Upon visiting some large showroom of design furniture something struck me. almost all classic furniture designs (such as the Barcelona chair, the Eames Lounge Chair, Le Corbusier series LC2 LC3) were presented in black leather. Not one was displayed upholstered in a nice tan/biscuit or white leather or anything else for that matter (or combined with some other furniture to balance it). Why do they do this ?
Would this be for the clients to be better able to compare the seats, without additional color confusion ?
Or simply because the black leather look is the bestseller ? Unfortunately I asked and heard rumor from the salesperson indicating the latter. This confused me. Do not get me wrong here, I have got nothing against black per se, but a room full of nothing but the black leather / chrome combo seems to be so unwelcoming/ oppressive for a personal living room in my opinion. And it seems so, well, eighties chic aka the yuppie boardroom formula ??
This leaves me with new questions. First, what should a good showroom go for? Selecting and displaying the pieces as they are sold mostly? And thereby offering the opportunity to the largest number of clients to see the piece completely fitted as they will eventually end up buying it? As I find it often difficult too to image something completely done up in another fabric, I understand such an inclination from a buying perspective. So this is perhaps the solution most directly profitable for the greatest number of persons who will pass through the showroom. And perhaps this solution is also best for profit margins or not? On the other hand does a showroom also has a task to surprise people and offer an option they will not have thought of themselves, some but might like when they are given a chance to explore? But might this scare away classic black leather customers. Or not? Any thoughts?
Second, how would you decide on the leather when purchasing a piece of furniture for your home?
Third, why do people in general still go for the black leather look. Because the eighties black leather and chrome look is still the epitome of stylishness for a lot of people? Because a lot of people find it difficult to immediately come up with an alternative to black leather? Because they think black is the most classic and therefore most lasting and practical solution if they ever want to sell the chair or sofa?
I think...
..it's probalby mostly that black is just the most popular color for the classic leather upholstered pieces. There certainly are lots of other colors in leather in mainstream furniture so I don't think it's that people like black best in general.
And I think you're right in that with high ticket items it's safer to show them in the most popular version. Most people do lack imagination when it comes to picturing something in another color or whatever.
I have reupholstered four Eames lounge chair knockoffs. I did the first one in black because I knew it would look good. The next three I did in very dark brown leather---got swatches first of about six different hides each time and there was always one that was perfect with the wood of the chair and the rest of our fabrics and furnishings. That's how I chose which leather. I'm really leary of making a decision on a major purchase without checking the materials at home first. Most good stores will let you take swatches home.
I think most people go for black for the same reason most people get neutral carpeting and neutral paint color on the walls. It's safe and it works with everything else. It's generally a good rule, too---keep the big things (and expensive things that you're likely to own for a long time) neutral in color and add color contrast with smaller or less expensive things that you can change when you get tired of them.
Because black is slimming? ...
Because black is slimming? Maybe the chairs are concerned with looking...Reubenesque?
I think in general people are afraid of thinking too hard. Black will go with just about anything. I really advocate using different colors tho. My local cafe has two LC2's and an LC3 in a lovely chocolate/plum leather and they are gorgeous! Black would have been too heavy and stiff and not fit the decor at all.
Personally, I reupholstered my plycraft Eames repro in black. Beforehand, however, I took a bunch of photos of the chair (which originally had white vinyl...eww!) and played around in photoshop trying out different colors. I found the brighter colors like reds and blues were too garish. Colors like chocolate brown felt too grandpa-ish. Charcoal grey was an idea but my livingroom has too much grey in it already. And so I was back to black. And even that took a week of hemming and hawing over 3 differnt samples of black leather.
I think black is fine, as long as you've already tried out something else.
Mustard leather
The person I get leather from had some gorgeous mustard yellow hides that I thought would be fun to have, but there was no way I was gonna do a major piece of furniture in that color. I might like it for a week or a month---maybe even a year---but I know I'd get very tired of it at some point.
I meant to say in my other post that the three chairs I've done in dark brown leather were three different colors and finishes. One was a very matte espresso (like nubuck, almost), one is a low gloss in a brown that is so dark it's almost black, and the other is a dark coffee with a higher gloss--like the patina that old leather has. They all look really good if I do say so myself!
Paint it black / Or not ?
I absolutely like the posts !
Generally speaking I also like all hints and tints of brown better and I would go for this option first, as real black can sometimes feel a bit cold for me (especially for leather), but I fully agree that it depends on the place were you will put it and in the combination with the rest of your furniture, art, carpet etc. Saw an Eames lounge chair done up in a not too dark brown, more of a light tint, and it looked absolutely gorgeous. I think it was because this colour really did set of the wood of the shell.
I must say, azurechicken has got a good point there, brown leather surely can age beautifully.
Recently I did see an unusual combination in a magazine (AD ?), a LC2 upholstered in green ! It sounds more than a little daunting on paper, but strangely enough it worked for the interior. It looked excellent. It was an architects home, I believe, and the guy had combined dark and a somewhat lighter tint of green with natural woods, concrete and some accents in red. I do not think I would have had the confidence to come up with such a bold colour scheme, I guess it takes vision and also trust that it will come out well. Must say that the overall picture was not completely according to my taste (a bit too busy for my liking), but it was really nice in its own style. And it had a very personal signature !
black is black baby
Eames himself insisted that his Lounge Chair Ottoman only be displayed in black leather. He would remove any other colour from a showroom. I have a gorgeous black leather sofa. It works well against my white walls and collection of very bright contemporary Aboriginal art. It is also very easy to keep clean. Just wipe it off with a damp cloth.
Stephen
Black doesn't show dirt and scuffs...Simple...
Go in a thrift store and look at ratty leather furniture. Which looks less ratty? Black leather, or beige, or blue, or god forbid, red?
Black is also dignified and most modernism was so jarring and unconventional that to be taken seriously they probably had to opt for black.
Finally, black does not distract one from the formalism of modernist furniture the way bold colors often do. Imagine an Eames easy chair in--god forgive me please--pink leather. You would never even SEE the great bent rosewood, or the organic look of the design. All you would see would be PINK. And primary colors like R,G,B would do the same. Black, white, beige and occassionally brown are the only colors that do not tend to steal the thunder away from a good many modernist forms IMHO.
You're all focusing on eames...
You're all focusing on eames lounge which, I agree, looks way better in black leather. The palisander or walnut shell lightens the frame, and the black cushions have the luxurious and nesting feel which suits this chair, like sucking all the light, and your body in!
But a LC2 or a LC3 in black, or even the barcelona, have a very severe look, partly because no wood is involved. These pieces of furniture will always have this "shrink's waiting room" feeling for me: austere and uncomfortable.
loki
LC in brown
said it in my first post: The LC2 Chairs and sofa look amazing in brown. They are only a year old at the cafe, and already look sooooo warm and inviting. Perhaps this is also because they get used almost non-stop 7 days a week.... but even still.. part off the look is the color.
The little black dress
I'm kinda surprised no one has mentioned the 'Coco Chanel' Effect. Ever since she popularized and imortalized black for the perfect cocktail dress it has been the color of choice for anything 'haute couture' (as modern degin furniture inarguably is). Coco Chanel made black fashionable, proper and totally chic. Then she put it on Audrey Hepburn and the world has never been the same.
I must admit I own my 'classic' pieces in black leather. But had brown been the right choice for my space I'd have been happy with that too. Not too big a fan of white though. Always seems too sterile, even more so than black.
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