Fritz Hansen Guidelines for Leather

GUIDELINES FOR LEATHER Sample: Elegance, pigmentation variations and neck wrinkles

ELEGANCE / NATURal / RUSTIc / sense - the quality

Elegance/Natural/Rustic/Sense leather is exclusive leather of the finest quality. The leather has a natural surface, which mirrors the active life of the animal. Insect bites and scars were a natural part of the daily life of the animal and the natural markings are part of the leather’s expression and will be visible together with other natural markings such as neck wrinkles, beauty marks etc. Elegance/Natural/Rustic/Sense leather tells the story about the unique life of the animal and provides every piece of furniture with its own distinctive stamp.

Elegance/Natural/Rustic/Sense leather adds an extra dimension to the Fritz Hansen furniture. It is classic furniture;

yet upholstered with this very natural leather the furniture also becomes a unique specimen. In this way, we can offer the very selective and quality conscious customers a piece of furniture that is both classic and unique.

Elegance/Natural/Rustic/Sense leather is a type of leather that requires a customer who appreciates the markings of nature and the natural look of the leather. The customers should value that the furniture will gain patina over the years and becomes even more unique. However, if one prefers a more practical and uniformed leather with a more homogenous expression, one of our other types of leather might be a better choice.

Sample: Elegance, neck wrinkles

ELEGANCE / NATURal / RUSTIc / sense - the LeaTher

Elegance/Natural/Rustic/Sense leather has a natural “naked� surface and a soft touch characterizing aniline leather.

Natural markings are visible on aniline leather and the open pores in the leather allow it to breath. The result is a high degree of sitting comfort and an exclusive look.

Since aniline leather shows the leather from the most natural side, high qualities of rawhides are required. Only a very small percentage of the rawhides are suitable for the manufacturing of the exclusive Elegance/Natural/Rustic/ Sense leather.

One of the characteristics of Elegance/Natural/Rustic/Sense leather is that it changes over time and gains patina with the years. The leather is very susceptible to light and dirt.

Sample: Elegance, scar

ELEGANCE / NATURal / RUSTIc / sense - natural markings

When the customer chooses Elegance/Natural/Rustic/Sense leather, the natural markings are more or less visible.

The markings are unique for each individual piece of leather and furniture. They provide the furniture with a unique charm and a distinctive touch. Natural markings are not defects in the leather, they are unique imprints of the life of the animal.

Sample: Elegance, beauty mark

CLASSIC - the quality

Classic leather is developed especially for Fritz Hansen’s tightly upholstered furniture. The leather is strong and has a beautiful uniformed structure. It is very easy to maintain and it keeps the original look over time. The name says it all: Classic leather provides Fritz Hansen furniture with a classic look and uniformed quality.

Sample: Classic, neck wrinkles

CLASSIC - the leather

Classic is a durable leather and only manufactured out of exquisite rawhides. The leather type is pigmented and lightly buffed. Classic has a strong surface finish which makes the leather very practical and protected against dirt and light.

The leather is relatively uniform, however, with possibly wrinkles in the sway on the furniture, neck folds and other natural markings.

Sample: Classic, wrinkles

soft / basic / suede - the quality

Soft Soft is a full grain semi-aniline leather. The leather has a natural look with natural grains. Soft is characteristically smooth and soft. It has a smooth finish and is durable and easy to maintain and provides perfect sitting comfort. Besides that Soft is very colour fast.

Basic Basic is a robust type of leather with a very strong and durable finish. The surface has a light grain pattern making the expression very uniformed. The leather is very soft, robust and easy to maintain and resistant to grease. Basic is also very colour fast.

Suede Suede is the softest type of aniline leather. It is the inner side - the meat side - of the hide that is processed. The hides can be used both on sitting surfaces and in combination with smooth leather. Suede has a nap, which changes colour and provides a shimmering effect depending on the direction of the nap. Natural markings can appear. The sitting comfort is superb.

Sample: Basic, rough surface

MAINTENANCE - DAily cleaning

The best maintenance advice for care of all types of leather from Fritz Hansen is regular vacuum cleaning using a soft brush. Avoid use of detergents and sharp objects.

If cleaning is required, use boiled water with good-quality natural soap flakes. Whisk 2-3 tablespoons of soap flakes in 1 litre of water and use only the foam. Spread the foam with a soft cloth over the entire piece of furniture. Wipe of the foam. When the leather is dry, carefully wipe with a soft cotton cloth.

Note that suede may only be vacuum cleaned and NEVER treated with water or soap.

Never place leather furniture in direct sunlight or close to a radiator, which may cause the colour to fade and the leather to dry out.

Read more about the maintenance of the various types of leather on fritzhansen.com (go to: www.fritzhansen.com/ en/fritz-hansen/the-republic/care-and-materials).

Sample: Elegance, hair whirls

CHOOSE THE RIGHT TYPE OF LEATHER - QUESTIONS TO ASK REGARDING the CHOICE

All our customers are different and have individual needs.

Therefore, Fritz Hansen offers a wide selection of leather types to make the furniture fit perfectly into the individual home. The different types of leather have different characteristics, and it is important to offer the customer the right guidance and recommendation from an understanding of the customers’ needs and what they expect of the leather.

There is a long list of parameters to consider when selecting the right type of leather. Does the customer prefer sitting comfort, a unique impression or a uniformed look? Or is the preference organic leather that breathes or is it easy maintenance?

When the customer is going to choose leather for his furniture it is vital that the necessary knowledge is available in order to make the right choice. This calls for a thorough and professional introduction to the leather types’ different

characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. When the introduction is completed, the customer will be better informed and ready to choose the right quality of leather according to the specific needs, requests and expectations of the leather over time.

To help the customer choose it can be helpful to ask the following questions: • • • •

Does the customer want natural leather?

How practical should the leather be?

Are there children or animals in the home?

Should the leather have a uniform or more unique, natural expression?

In the end, it is up to the customer to choose, but the right guidance is important to keep the customer satisfied.

Sample: Elegance, rough surface

upholstering - How is the leather sewn

When your furniture is upholstered with the type of leather that you have chosen, a major part of the padding is done by hand.

The leather is partly hand sewn with a curved needle. Before the actual sewing begins, the leather for the back of the furniture is positioned and fastened on with needles which keeps it firmly in place, ready to be sewn. The fastening of the leather will leave small holes in the surface when the needles are finally removed. Please note that this is a natural part of the furniture - a story about the extensive handcrafting which took part in its creation.

On some pieces of furniture a part of the leather is also sewn by machine. The transition between the two methods can be seen clearly and is completely traditional.

The picture to the right shows the Fritz Hansen upholsterer, Hans, sewing leather on to an Egg™. In this picture you can also see the mentioned needles, that will leave the small holes in the leather.

Sample: Sence, rough surface