197
True Tomorrow
Research into leather has achieved an
important milestone in terms of reducing
environmental impact. Pelle Frau®
Impact Less Leather is fi nally here, an
emblem of Poltrona Frau’s thirty-year
journey in the leather production
and manufacturing process.
Renzo Frau began the company’s history
by producing leather furniture, an exclusive
novelty for the time in Italy. Leather has been
the company’s fi eld of research, manufactur-
ing and aesthetic experimentation from the
very beginning. In the 1980s, Poltrona Frau
was the fi rst Italian furniture company to
introduce colour in upholstery. While in terms
of sustainability, leather is at the centre of a
range of researches aimed at reducing the
use of energy resources and substances that
impact the environment and human labour,
with the goal of animal welfare and worker
safety. For Poltrona Frau, being a leader in
the material expression of leather means
designing a continuously improving balance
between ethics, technological innovation,
design, craftsmanship and performance. A
balance the company has always pursued
with honesty and transparency and with the
objective of reducing environmental impact.
About fi fteen years ago, Poltrona Frau
established its internal Leather Research &
Development Department, the only one of
its kind among the companies in the sector,
with the aim of being the only point of refe-
rence in leather research and development.
As well as in the defi nition of standardisable
criteria within precise specifi cations, which
not only allow control and uniformity in the
production of the leathers but also permit
the implementation of processes over time.
Creating products from this material is a
challenge, as it changes by nature and with
the passage of time.
At Poltrona Frau, a furnishing is not
simply upholstered in leather; its aesthetic
starts from the material itself, and from
the visual and tactile eff ects that it deter-
mines. This is why standard leathers are
not used. Poltrona Frau leathers are de-
veloped from scratch in partnership with the
tanneries, through a process that requires
continuous steps and much experimentation.
The Department is continuously conducting
research on alternative materials and treat-
ments, with attention to both the circularity
of the system and to the real impact of the
entire life cycle of the products.
The management of Pelle Frau® leather
production starts with the supply; only full-
grain cowhides of European origin with a
traceability system - the ICEC TS PC 410-2
certifi cation, which marks the materials
upstream of the tannery. This reduces the
distance from the supply sources, therefore
reducing the amount of CO2 produced in
transportation. The waste from beef pro-
cessing is a material that must be disposed of,
which, combined with all intensively farmed
Leather as
a Manifesto
on Sustainability
True Tomorrow
