The World’s Best Leathers
Scott Robson
From an outwardly unassuming facility tucked into a well-manicured spot on Picket District road in New Milford, Conn., comes the world’s finest leather. Since 1981, Edelman Leather has provided superior-quality leathers to designers and architects seeking to create something distinctive.
For nearly thirty years, Edelman has been recognized as the luxury leather source for home furnishings, personal aviation and nautical interiors, and all other upholstery needs.
Edelman Leather traces its roots back to the mid 1950’s, when Theodora (“Teddy”) and Arthur Edelman became interested in the Edelman specialty family business in reptile leathers. Awed by the works of art that could be created from animal hides, they determined to produce and sell the finest leathers.
Over time, their focus shifted towards the fashion industry. Hoping to spread the word of their high-quality product, the Edelmans put out a call for a graphic designer in the early 1960s to spearhead their marketing campaign.
The sole response to their call was none other than Andy Warhol.
By 1964, with Mr. Warhol producing incredible, quirky pieces of pop art to complement their leathers, the Edelmans became the premier source of leather for the fashion industry. Their numerous accolades included the Coty Award and the Neiman-Marcus Award.
It wasn’t until 1981, however, that Edelman Leather was created as it exists today. By that time, the Edelmans had discovered a vacuum in the luxury upholstery industry. In response to this commercial void, Edelman Leather was founded. The company’s first stronghold was built inside a barn in Hawleyville, Conn. From those humble beginnings, the company began to expand quickly.
By 2000, space requirements necessitated a new facility. Hence, the 50,000 square foot facility in New Milford was the perfect place for Edelman Leather to call “home.” Within that facility, which is an amalgam of customer service facilities, corporate offices, processing labs and warehouse-style storage, resides more leather than in any other building in North America.
In addition to their nexus in New Milford, Edelman Leather has a finishing facility in Gloversville, New York, as well as showrooms and representatives located in major cities worldwide. They recently opened a brand-new showroom in London. Edelman products have been featured in dozens of trade publications and popular magazines, including Interior Design, The Robb Report, GQ, and The New York Times. Edelman Leather is featured at most major industry design rooms and conventions.
“I’ll be honest,” said Edelman Leather’s President, Amy Darrah, “Much of our success depends on the quality of our hides. We source only the best quality of hides, exclusively from Europe. Most of our hides come to us from cattle in southern Germany and Switzerland. The cattle there are treated extremely well, so there are no barbed wire scars or other injuries that mar the hide.”
“The hides are processed at tanneries in Italy, and then they’re shipped to us as crust,” Ms. Darrah continued.
“Crust is an industry term for a hide that’s been treated so that it’s nonperishable, but it hasn’t been colored, embossed, or otherwise finished,” she explained helpfully.
Ms. Darrah joined Edelman Leather last October, some time after Edelman was purchased by the modern design monolith, Knoll. With a long history in sales and design, Ms. Darrah had previously served as Knoll’s New York regional manager and was responsible for leading her team to record sales for the region.
While Knoll is now the parent company, Edelman Leather has retained its own distinctive identity. “Edelman is its own culture, its own design,” Ms. Darrah emphasized. “Knoll is a perfect partner. They have a number of very strong brands that emphasize high end, modern designs. It’s a perfect fit.”
“The team has already been established,” Ms. Darrah said. “Now, we’re focusing on moving forward.”
So far, under Ms. Darrah’s aegis, things are looking promising. “Sales have really picked up,” she said. “Throughout the recession, we managed to maintain our proportionate market share, but we’re always looking at opportunities for growth. There’s a great deal of opportunity for growth abroad, for instance.”
“We also have a new design introduction every quarter. We just introduced the new Croco Loco embossed leather, for example. We try to keep pushing the envelope,” Ms. Darrah said. “It’s a specialty product. Edelman Leather is at the forefront of specialty and embossed leathers.”
The new Croco Loco pattern is a fun, quirky pattern that replicates the look of crocodile skin in colors ranging from the expected to the surreal, depending on the customer’s taste. Like all of Edelman’s seventy-plus styles of leather, Croco Loco has its own back story and artwork to accompany its release. These descriptions and artworks may be viewed online at Edelman’s Web site, listed below.
Touring through Edelman Leather’s warehouse is an experience for all the senses. The smell of fine leather and the visual pop of unexpectedly brightly-dyed leathers among the rich brown, black, and cream-colored hides are a treat to the nose and eyes. One can hear the difference in different types of leather as they’re worked; the crisp staccato of heavier saddle tannage, or the whisper of soft chromium tannage.
The sense of touch, however, is by far the most pampered. Each style of leather and each level of finish present a new landscape of texture.
Whether it is the soft bristle of the hair-on-hides, the almost silken feel of the cashmere calfskin, or the subtle pebbling of the sealskin replica leather, the impeccable texture of Edelman leathers is proof of their quality.
“What you’re feeling is full-grain leather,” explained Kevin Cleary, a sales manager at Edelman Leather who has known the Edelmans since early childhood.
“Most leather producers have to correct imperfections in the hides they receive. They produce what’s known as top-grain leather. Top-grain leather undergoes a process of stripping, standing, and painting that replaces the natural top layer of the hide with an artificial substitute. It conceals most of the flaws in the hide,” he said.
“The downside of that process is that the leather wears out. When you see cracked, aged leather in an automobile, you’re seeing top-grain leather. Full-grain leather, Edelman leather, wears in. It develops a natural patina over time, and it looks better,” Mr. Cleary noted.
“Now, some customers prefer the pristine, maintained look for their leathers. Aviation projects, in particular, tend to require this. For that, we apply a transparent topcoat sealant to maintain the mint condition of the leather,” he added.
“Regardless of finish, all of our leathers are GreenGuard certified,” Ms. Darrah added.
In addition to the incredible quality of the leathers, there is a nearly overwhelming quantity housed at the New Milford location. Besides the sheer volume of hides, the variety of styles and colors is truly remarkable.
There are over seventy styles of leather offered by Edelman Leather at this time, ranging from the highly popular Royal Hide, which has the texture of a very soft and well-loved leather glove, to replica manta ray hide, to heavy-duty floor tile leather. These types are available in over 750 different colors, and Edelman is more than willing to match custom colors on request.
The interior of the Edelman Leather sample room resembles a deconstruction of the visual spectrum, broken into two-inch mosaic tiles and hung on a ten-foot wall.
Order sizes range from massive aviation or yacht contracts to individual residential commissions. “We can do any size order. Most of our upholstery is sold to designers and architects, but we don’t deal exclusively with interior designers,” Ms. Darrah explained. “We have a feature on our Web site that allows visitors to design their own rugs, for instance.”
For all its renown and success, Edelman Leather remains a homegrown business, hiring local employees and showing tremendous respect for the hides that they work with. It has retained the spirit and character set forth by the Edelmans in the 1950s. In many ways, the company has come full circle.
For more information on Edelman Leather, visit them online at www.edelmanleather.com
