Pelle Leather’s Nevada range in colour Dusk provides the perfect shade of black and a very aged finish for Simon Ancher’s bespoke Tailored couch. We spoke to Simon about the sofa and his choice of the Nevada leather.
Alice Hanson, founder of Tailored Tasmania, commissioned the couch for her new home in Hobart. Like her Tailored Tasmania website and book, Alice wanted to showcase what makes Tasmania so special, and commissioned local artists and designers, including Simon Ancher Studio, to create works celebrating art, design and Tasmania. “Alice requested a cocoon or nest-type of object that you would want to curl up in and read by the fire or look out at the amazing view and just be in one’s thoughts,” Simon says. “It needed to be a standalone object, viewed in the round from all angles.” Simon looked to boat building and barrel-making techniques, such as coppering, for inspiration.
He designed a timber frame with soft rounded corners along its edge and a faceted shape at the rear. This provides a sense of enclosure for the cushioned seat, arm and back rests that wrap neatly within its form. Raised on powder-coated steel in textured matte black, the couch appears to almost float above the floor due to the curves and cut outs in the steel. “This was a project that really pushed my hand skills and understanding of geometry,” Simon says.
Having looked at various leather samples, Simon selected the Nevada leather range for its textural quality. The pull-up aniline leather produced on European hides has an aged, distressed appearance due to the blend of oil and wax applied to the surface. “The slightly aged nature of the leather meant it would catch the light and provide an inviting quality enhanced by the timber shell form,” he says.
Colour Dusk provided the perfect shade of black to contrast with and complement the timber. “As the name suggests, Dusk was just right – not too dark, not too light. It’s often hard to get the right black, especially with a light colour timber. Dusk provided a darker, blacker tone but without the heaviness of a solid black,” Simon explains.
A line of stitching runs down the centre of the cushioning, as if indicating two wide and generous seats. Simon worked closely with his upholsterer Matt, making the internal forms the foam and leather to be applied around. “There were many discussions about how to upholster the form and we opted for a webbed seat frame and utilised a sticking detail to visually divide the seat in two,” says Simon. “It was a little like car upholstery in the end.”
You can see more of Tailored Pod and Simon’s bespoke Tailored couch on Grand Designs Australia later this year.
Learn more about Pelle Leather’s Nevada range here.