LeCrease
A stool shaped by the constraints of recycled leather. Flexible yet stiff.
Recycelt Leather
Leather production generates significant waste, as irregular hide shapes lead to up to 30% material loss during cutting. Much of this comes from shoe, bag and car-interior industries. What is often overlooked is that most leathers carry a thin plastic coating, making them composite materials that cannot return to nature. Nabore has taken on this challenge, transforming these large-scale industrial offcuts into a recycled leather material that can re-enter a circular design process.
Material
The color of the stool emerges directly from the recycled leather itself, defined by the hues of the collected offcuts. While the material is left largely untreated to highlight its origin, the edges can be sealed in the traditional way known from leathercraft, adding durability and refinement.
Research
The research focused on developing folding mechanisms and molds that transform the nabore material into a self-stabilizing structure. Unlike plywood, which breaks under sharp bends, the material can flex up to almost 180 degrees without losing integrity. This property became the key driver of the design, using folds and tension to create a form that stabilizes itself while retaining a degree of flexibility and softness inherent to its origin.
Recycelt Leather
Flexibel and Stiff
​The stool combines softness with structural strength. When sitting, the leather surface yields slightly, absorbing pressure like a cushion, yet only up to a precisely defined point. Beyond this threshold, the folded structure locks into place, providing stability and support. This balance of flexibility and firmness turns the act of sitting into a tactile experience that merges comfort with the logic of construction.
Support
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DESIGN
Friedrich Gerlach
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