Artek x Hender Scheme Launch Furniture Shoes

A 91-year-old Finnish furniture company and a 15-year-old Japanese leather shoemaker have created a joint collection. The Artek x Hender Scheme line launches globally on October 10, following a preview at the London Design Festival from September 15 to 19.

Hender Scheme founder Ryo Kashiwazaki proposed a novel idea. Why not make shoes for furniture? The result is handmade, vegetable-tanned leather covers that slip onto the bent-birch legs of Alvar Aalto's iconic Stool 60 and Table 90C. The design uses storm-welt construction, a technique typically employed to make footwear more water-resistant.

Shared Philosophy on Natural Materials

Both companies share a deep respect for natural materials and their imperfections. Artek uses "wild birch" that retains knots and insect trails. Hender Scheme's vegetable-tanned leather comes with its inherent scars and stretch marks. Neither brand seeks to iron out these irregularities. They believe materials improve with age.

Kashiwazaki emphasizes a hands-off approach to this aging process. The trick, he says, is "to not treat too much." Over time, Hender Scheme's pale leather will darken and develop a patina, just as Artek's birch gradually changes color. The design philosophy is to let that natural evolution happen.

Subtle Interventions on Iconic Designs

Working with Artek's nearly century-old design legacy, Kashiwazaki aimed to tread lightly. "Try not to do too much," he stated, "but also try to add something very small, yet very different." This is most apparent in the leather-clad stool and table legs.

Elsewhere in the collection, the interventions are more subtle. A leather clock, key holder, and set of coasters take their shape from Aino Aalto's Riihitie ceramic plant pots. She originally designed those pots in 1937 for the terrace of the Helsinki home she shared with Alvar.

The Pendant Lamp A330 Golden Bell, originally from the 1950s, receives a technically involved update. Its new three-piece leather shade is wet-formed over a 3D-printed mold. Kashiwazaki calls this blend of old craft and new technology "new craft." He prefers using traditional techniques freely alongside modern methods rather than simply preserving them.

A Test of Time

Kashiwazaki is pleased with the collaboration's outcome. For him, however, the real test will come decades from now. He points out that furniture can have a lifespan measured in centuries. His dream is to see one of the collaborative pieces turn up in Artek's Helsinki Second Cycle store, which resells used furniture, in "20 or 30 years."

"If this product gets back there one day and someone buys it, that would be really great," Kashiwazaki said. The collection will first be shown publicly at Vitra's Tramshed showroom in Shoreditch during the London Design Festival.