A new look at leather craftsmanship
- Pierre redefines the limits of leather goods
- He collaborates with artisans of different crafts
- Leather marquetry is one of his specialities
Pierre Roux is the founder of La Reverdie, an atelier that reinvents traditional leather goods through the creation of original design objects. Based in Benfeld, in the Alsace region, he and his small team work on bespoke projects for professionals, mainly in the restaurant, hotel and fashion sectors. They also create collections of delicately handcrafted leather goods. With a background in photography and ceramics, Pierre draws on his diverse artistic skills to evolve as a leather craftsman and designer: "I turned to this material for the aesthetic possibilities and the creativity it inspires in me." To further innovate and enrich the workshop's unique savoir-faire, Pierre particularly fosters collaboration with other artisans, as he did recently with a cabinetmaker or a stonemason.
INTERVIEW
Absolutely, I would not be doing what I am doing now if I had not had those experiences. Working as a photographer in the studios of the City of Paris museums taught me a lot about working with light and aesthetics. Ceramics, on the other hand, requires great humility: you work with clay, the basic material, you learn about the work of gesture, the repetition.
We specialise in leather marquetry, or multi-material marquetry: we assemble parts of leather, but also other materials such as brass, fabric, sheets of wood, in order to create a pattern. We also specialise in surface sheathing, and 3D sheathing for furniture.
I make leather goods that break down barriers, and rise to new challenges. Our core activity at the workshop is leather goods, but we push the limits of traditional craftsmanship by calling on other crafts and challenging the designer’s perspective. We have a network of partners that allows us to be versatile.
I really enjoy creative projects, which combine creativity and challenge, that encourage us to find new solutions. The project we worked on with the designer Mathieu Lehanneur, for example, in which we were asked to sheathe a collection of furniture, required considerable research and development. We came to develop rare techniques and know-how.
