Leather buyers want pearlized finishes, metallic tones
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, June 11, 2007
High Point — While the number of leather hide exhibitors participating at Showtime shrinks with each event, the stalwarts showing here last week saw manufacturers that preferred pearlized finishes and metallic overtones over eco-green selections.
Many upholstery manufacturers walking the show were looking for specialty leathers — or, in the words of McKinley Leather's chief operating officer, Lori Sadowski, and her father, President Jim Mitchell, "Something new!"
Cecily Zagaroli, director of merchandising for Zagaroli Classics, was shopping for embossed leathers "to capture the 'design boutique' look of our line." Her husband, President Todd Zagaroli, swatch in hand, was on the hunt for rugged, casual, "timeless" hides.
Kara Tannery, an Italian company dedicated to specialty leathers and embossings, was exhibiting in concert with Moore & Giles.
"It adds a whole other dimension to our product line by extending our reach and allowing us to be more creative," said Chairman Don Giles. "We've been especially successful with these types of leathers in both residential and hospitality."
Customers in the showroom were tempted by sophisticated neutral creams and muted pearlized tones. "It's a traditional story with a fresher, more modern appearance, not so Old World," said President Sackett Wood.
Unlike in fabric showrooms, the advent of eco-green leathers fell flat. While LSA-Wipelli, Moore & Giles, Zenda (formerly Friitala) and others featured a limited offering of environmentally friendly product, manufacturers showed little interest and may have been scared off by higher pricing.
"We're showing it but no one is really into it," said Sabine Schweizer, co-owner of Wipelli. Giles said, "I'm surprised how few inquires we have had about it."
Chrome-free leathers are about three times the price of traditional leathers, said Schweizer. But, she added, "There is no real test that proves (chrome-free) is better for the environment." Visitors to her booth preferred new leathers in deep yellow tones, as well as screen-printed zebra stripe programs and tone-on-tone fleur-de-lis embellishments.
Peter Robinson, president of Robinson & Robinson's LeatherTrend, and Michael Elkhatib, vice president of sales and marketing for Hong Kong-based Violino, were among those manufacturers dissatisfied with price hikes.
Prices have gone up since last year, but suppliers declined to say by how much.
Paolo Castaman, sales manager for Leder, said offering quality leathers is his company's strong suit, and it would be impossible to continue to do so without increases in prices. "Everyone has been understanding because of the general situation with raw materials; they are accepting it," he said.
At Uruguay-based tannery Zenda, Managing Director Juan Diego Casaretto also blamed the hikes on increases in raw materials: "The key thing is the raw materials. That has affected everyone."
Zenda's newest offerings included an article with a pearlized sheen in four colors.
Arcona Leather Technologies — with new management and ownership — returned to Showtime after a hiatus of several years. Evan Andersonsmith, a principal in owner Northstar Capital Group, said the niche company's 90,000-square-foot leather finishing operation in Hudson, N.C., would cut down on transportation time for U.S. manufacturers facing slow delivery of Chinese leathers.
"We don't just bring in leather and sell it," Andersonsmith said. "We offer factory-direct processing of a variety of competitively priced custom leather services to manufacturers and distributors across North America."
Carroll Leather, Euroleather, Green Hides, Hochhauser, Hulshof, Tiger Imports and Americraft were among other leather exhibitors at Showtime.
