New H&M Leathers from Spring 2014 Market

[drcollie]

"Angelo" Price Grade 2. Here's a finished leather that is split thicker than most giving it a heavier weight and yet its still pretty soft and supple. If you want a rough 'n tumble hide that wipes down easily, this could be the one. Six colorways that give a very transitional feel

"Arizona" Price Grade 4. A lot of customers are going to like this one. Matte finish, supersoft yet with textured grain. The "Bark" color is very handsome. Four Colorways, Pure Aniline.

'Bismark" Price Grade 2. zzzzzzzzzzzz...snoozer. 1 colorway. pass.

"Brahma Crystal" Price Grade 5. Only a mid-town, NYC high-end condo decorator is going to like this silver/white hair on hide.

"Coast" Price Grade 2. Similar to Angelo except has a 2-tone effect to it. High/Low. May appear 'splotchy' to some, others will like the variegation. Four Colorways

"Custer" Price Grade 4. Back to nature leather. For those that want a hide that looks like its right off the ranch in Montana. Two colorways, both dark brown.

"Eden" and "Elena" Grade 5. Pretty new Embossed Leathers with decorative patterns. Glad to see these in the lineup, leathers like these have been missing the past 2 years.

"Envy" Grade 5. Four new colorways. This is probably the worlds finest leather from the cleanest Tannery in existence in Belgium. None finer. Expensive and probably worth it.

'Herringbone Sable" Grade 5. A very handsome embossed leather with a 3D effect. Will be fun to use on custom projects.

'Hutton" Grade 1: FINALLY Another GR1 price-friendly leather I can recommend in addition to Columbia. Three colorways, all good

"Prada Mink" GR 5. A reptile embossed leather with a mossy tone.

[cuse69]

Duane,

Maybe you've answered this before, but I'm curious how does the leathers and colors get their name?

Larry

[drcollie]

I really have no idea how they name them, Larry.

I know the big leather show is every June in High Point, where all the manufacturers go see the leather supplier wares and make their picks. On some occasions, the makers will keep the vendor names for the product (such as a leather called 'Stargo' from China, which has that name in both Bradington Young and Leathercraft) while other makers such as Hancock & Moore always re-name the product. If H&M buys "Stargo" for example, they will rename it something like "Aspen", etc.

[DecisionsDecisions]

I get that H&M renames the product, but do (or can) the retailers rename them yet again?

When I browsed a local retailer (being familiar with a lot of the H&M leather names) the retailer did not have one familiar H&M leather line. I only saw about 3 or 4 that were shades of green on an approx. 12 ft long wall with a single line of leather samples. I asked if it was the ENTIRE line of leather offered by H&M, I was told it was. I understand they have a HUGE amount of offerings so I began to believe the sales person might not know what she was talking about. I was only window shopping anyway so I didn't get into detail with her about the differences. I just assumed maybe the retailer changed the names like the mattress industry does to make it hard for people to comparison shop. Duane always calls them by the same name as H&M, so is this retailer trying to confuse the customer or do they get their own line of offerings?

Also, am I getting many of the same leather choices with other furniture manufacturers as I am with H&M?? Is the real difference the build quality?

[drcollie]

Retailers only re-name leathers/fabrics and model numbers to prevent consumers from cross-shopping the price. It's a lot of work because you have to re-code everything, so its not something done lightly. H&M has about 400 leathers in the line at any given time. H&M does not offer a particular dealer an exclusive line of leathers - to the best of my knowledge.

All furniture makers buy leather from supplier vendors, the big leather show is every June in High Point, where there will be hundreds of tanneries showing their wares to the trade. You can very easily have a company such as H&M and then say Classic Leather buying the same hide series from Supplier XYZ, but each furniture maker will give it a different name - usually. Is there a difference in build quality in H&M from other makers? Absolutely! H&M is the Gold Standard in Leather Furniture, and it does carry a premium price tag. They take no shortcuts in the build of their pieces, and that goes all the way from start to finish - even in the way they pack it for shipment. Like most things, you generally get what you pay for.

[DecisionsDecisions]

Thanks again for clarifying. I'm learning so much from you and this forum. It's appreciated.

There was NO WAY they had anything close to 400 leathers on display. Maybe 1/4 of that….MAYBE. (but I doubt it) That's fine too, I wouldn't necessarily expect to see every last option on the spot, but I didn't care for the fact they told me it was all H&M offered. They were larger than your sample ring video in another thread. I was able to spread the swatch about 3/4 of the way across the top of the Woodbridge and tuck in in the pillow (bustle?) and get a better idea how it would look. That was nice, However, after spending a lot of time on the H&M site looking at all the colors & trying to remember the names, I was anxious to see a few in person. There wasn't a single match (by name anyway)

You mentioned Classic Leather. I don't know anything about them honestly, but the retailer had a really pretty recliner on display that was made by them (it reminded me of the Sami) and it was done up in a Tiffany Blue butter soft leather, with steel nail heads. It looked like it belonged to a Princess. ;-) (It was really comfy too!)

[drcollie]

Sounds like tht dealer has the large swatches, which take up a lot of room if you have all the swatches. I elected to do the 4" x 6" ones at my store because they are much more manageable., and the larger switches lose color as the age so they become less accurate with time. I replace my Master Handle in the store with all-new swatches every two years for that reason as well.

Classis Leather has been around a long time! It was where Jimmy Moore was in charge of all Production and Jack Glasheen the head of all Sales & Marketing. Back in the late 70's they didn't like the way Classic was headed and left to form Hancock & Moore with 6 other Employees, 5 of which are still at H&M! There one glial was to build the best in the Industry and that's what they have done. (the company should have been called Glasheen & Moore but he likes to remain in the background). Classic Leather is now comparable to Bradington Young and is a "B" Tier maker. Not Bad, but it's not H&M.