What is "slunkskin', really?  

It was
Their term for calf skin.

Incidentally,
Herman Miller is releasing a limited edition of 500 cowhide LCWs, in case you didn't already know.

Yuck.
I would label this a "applied decoration." Not so modern if you ask me. Plus, skin is gross.

O, Spike, it has it's place
actually I admire the low wood lounge in black and white slunkyskin-au-go-go.
It's really gear, bro.

No it's a little more than just calf skin....
It's the skin of an unborn calf.

I believe the-beloved has...
I believe the-beloved has won the thread. Kinda creepy, eh?

So gross
I could never sit in it now, thanks beloved. Jeremiah, this fetal cow has topped your rocket ship. I believe you have now to come up with something else even more outrageous for coating a classic, like pygmy vomit or something.
Just a suggestion.

I'm thinking...
Inflated whoopee cushions?

Um, I (very) respectfully dis...
Um, I (very) respectfully disagree. This look is never appealing (to me).

If you find skin "gross".
is it safe to assume you find leather gross, too? Same material, after all--

Yes
It's just unshaved leather ..

Such a lot of controversy!
I asked a question never dreaming that their would be serious outrage from vegans.
I always wondered what kind of shoe a vegan would wear......plastic crocs, I suppose (be careful on those escalators).
By the way, ever considered that we're all tree murderers?

?
What outrage? Seems like a bunch of jokes to me.

I can't wait for
I can't wait for the 150th anniversary edition - in your choice of authentic Irish Setter or Golden Retriever.
Again I'm going to side with whitespike here. As much as I love the look I could never bring myself to sit in a hide chair every day. Don't get me wrong - I'm not a vegetarian. I'll even eat veal (in protest of bad art). But slunk skin is just. plain. gross.
And leather, while it is the same material, is much further removed than hair-on-hide. The same way chicken in a foam tray is WAY far removed from the days of chopping their heads off with a hatchet, and plucking them by hand. (did I mention I grew up on a farm?)