Fitting tribute

A new homeware collection from Berluti is a high-spirited homage to modern European design

Berluti Home & Office Objects collection curated by Kris Van Assche, including pieces by Werkstätte Carl Auböck, Afra and Tobia Scarpa, and Simon Hasan (landscape)
(Image credit: press)

Already an established maker of the finest leather accessories and menswear, Berluti has found added purpose under Kris Van Assche, its artistic director since 2018. Having revived 17 pieces of original Pierre Jeanneret furniture for last year’s Design Miami, upholstering them with the brand’s Venezia leather, Van Assche is now launching a Home & Office Objects collection that brings together creativity, heritage and craftsmanship.

Berluti is above all known for working leather – leather shoes, leather accessories, and so to make the next step to homeware seems logical,’ explains Van Assche. Rather than designing from scratch, he opted to cast a series of European design classics in a new light. ‘The idea is to take existing design, but to embellish it with our know-how.’

From Werkstätte Carl Auböck, a fourth-generation brass workshop based in Vienna, Van Assche selected desk accessories, a magazine rack and a wastepaper basket, accentuating their perfect proportions with a distinctive patina and delicate hand-stitching.

A magazine rack by Carl Auböck II and a 'Cartoccio' bowl by Afra and Tobia Scarpa, upholstered in patinated leather for Berluti's Home & Office Objects collection

A magazine rack by Carl Auböck II, and a ’Cartoccio’ bowl by Afra and Tobia Scarpa for San Lorenzo, both reinterpreted in patinated leather for Berluti’s Home & Office Objects collection

(Image credit: press)

Collaborating with Italian wood workshop Bottega Ghianda, he reinterpreted the work of architect Gae Aulenti. Handcrafted in maple and ebony, Aulenti’s trays and photo frames are now finished in colourful Venezia leather, adding to their tactility and visual allure.

Kris van Assche, Berluti creative director, with some of the Pierre Jeanneret pieces, restored by François Laffanour of Paris’ Laffanour Galerie Downtown, and upholstered in Berluti leather. Clockwise from front, ‘Base Building’ desk in neelam blue; daybed in nespola orange; and ‘Cinéma’ armchairs in simal red and sukhna sunset purple, all price on request, from Laffanour Galerie Downtown.

Equally covetable are Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s ‘Cartoccio’ bowls, created for Milanese silversmiths San Lorenzo. Their memorable forms, evoking elegantly crumpled sheets of paper, have been given a fresh spin with the addition of Venezia leather on the outside, an unusual yet fitting complement to pure silver.

Van Assche has additionally commissioned designer Simon Hasan to create five new vases, with statuesque silhouettes achieved via a 15th-century crafts technique, in which vegetable-tanned leather is coaxed into specific forms via boiling in a wooden mould. ‘The fact that he makes art pieces in a similar way to how we traditionally make shoes felt like a nice match,’ says Van Assche. ‘Simon has always worked in natural colours, and it was the first time he’s brought colour and patina to the table.'

Leather vases by Simon Hasan for Berluti's Home & Office Objects collection

Two of five vase designs by artist Simon Hasan for Berluti’s Home & Office Objects collection. Hasan uses a 15th-century crafts technique, in which vegetable-tanned leather is heated in water on wooden moulds to achieved the desired forms

(Image credit: press)

Spanning seven decades of design, the Home & Office Objects are a testament not only to the versatility and allure of Berluti’s premium leathers, but also to Van Assche’s expansive vision for the brand.

‘Know-how and craft can be a little old-fashioned, and it’s part of my job to make them contemporary,’ he reflects. ‘It’s the definition of Berluti: there’s one foot in tradition, one foot in the future.’

Berluti’s artistic director Kris Van Assche at the brand’s Paris HQ, introducing the new Home & Office Collection. Film by Lucas Posson and Axel Maffert

INFORMATION

The Berluti Home & Office Objects Collection is available from November 2020. berluti.com

TF Chan is a former editor of Wallpaper* (2020-23), where he was responsible for the monthly print magazine, planning, commissioning, editing and writing long-lead content across all pillars. He also played a leading role in multi-channel editorial franchises, such as Wallpaper’s annual Design Awards, Guest Editor takeovers and Next Generation series. He aims to create world-class, visually-driven content while championing diversity, international representation and social impact. TF joined Wallpaper* as an intern in January 2013, and served as its commissioning editor from 2017-20, winning a 30 under 30 New Talent Award from the Professional Publishers’ Association. Born and raised in Hong Kong, he holds an undergraduate degree in history from Princeton University.

With contributions from
Read more
Rubelli paris design week
Our highlights from Paris Design Week 2025
Left, Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran under their ‘03’ hanging lamp at the Spotti Milano store. Right, Interni Venosta’s ‘11’ table lamp and ‘04’, a glass coffee table with cylindrical steel feet
Discover Interni Venosta, the new furniture label where craft and beauty speak for themselves
Erwan's new chair
Erwan Bouroullec on all things chairs, including his ‘dynamic’ new design for Vitra
Faye Toogood portrait and model design
‘The world doesn’t necessarily need any more chairs’ and other design quotes to take into 2025
Our design & interiors winners, gathered together in a shoot for the February 2025 issue of Wallpaper*. Interiors by Olly Mason. Photography by Leandro Farina. Set build by London Art Makers. LED screen installation by KitMapper. Floral designer, Alina Dheere. Photography assistant, Nick Howe. Interiors assistant, Archie Thomson. Production assistant, Ady Huq. Details for all products featured are listed below
Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: the best furniture and design objects for 2025
mehdi dakhli the muravey chair
The Muravey Chair: Mehdi Dakhli on celebrating North Africa through contemporary design
Latest in Office
Clockwise Bremen, by Soda Studio
Step inside Clockwise Bremen, a new co-working space in Germany that ripples with geological nods
Rochester street office
Is Rochester Street Office a creative worker’s dream? Inside a Sydney workspace echoing calmness and light
drama republic offices, looking through glazed partition into desk with woman typing
Drama Republic moves into a colourful, handcrafted workspace in London
sofas and magazine rack at Eclat coworking space in Melbourne
Eclat rethinks 21st-century workspace with a hospitality offering in Melbourne
reMarkable HQ, Oslo, by Grape Architects
Pioneering tablet maker reMarkable’s Oslo headquarters is a space for ‘better thinking’
Hong Kong brutalist inspired office by Brewin dramatic modernist style waiting area
A Hong Kong HQ by Brewin Design Office draws on its modernist building’s nature
Latest in News
the lavery london restaurant review
At The Lavery, Anglo-Italian cooking caters to London’s design obsessive
perfume bottle archive Cristalleries de Nancy
This perfume bottle archive was nearly lost. Now, it offers a rare whiff of fragrance history
AMR-C01-R from Curv Racing Simulators
Curv teams up with a British sports car brand to create the ultimate luxury racing simulator
frida kahlo
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next year
vases PAD Paris
At PAD Paris, Omar Chakil’s new alabaster works for Galerie Gastou fuses Egyptian heritage and contemporary design
Aston Martin Vanquish Volante
Aston Martin looks set to make a bigger splash with its new Vanquish Volante