Structural Skin

PROJEKT: Jorge Penadez

Spain

make me! 2016

The Structural Skin design – interestingly enough – is not inspired by the qualities of the material, but by its defects. Leather is a beautiful material. However, it turns out to be extremely inefficient – here in terms of production, and the reason for this is the natural origin of the leather. Regardless of what the tanning process was like, the quality of the leather will depend on which part of the animal it comes from. The higher the part is located, the lower the quality. Some experts point out that only 13% of the leather is of high quality and about 43% is considered to be of good quality. This means that companies creating leather products are producing huge amounts of waste and offcuts. After careful research into the material, Spanish designer Jorge Penadés developed a new production method that transforms seemingly worthless waste from leather factories into an innovative material made 100% from animal product. The resins and other chemical products used in production were applied with concern for the environmental impact. The end result is ‘Structured Leather’, an experimental material-based design. While appreciating the natural qualities of leather, it also outlines a new role for it that has not previously been considered. The strong language of the material and its visual qualities have been used in a capsule collection, created to highlight possibilities other than the common two-dimensional use of leather.