Its a wrap

First you hear that leather supremo Bill Amberg is wrapping recycled chair frames with dyed rawhide in an experimental project with designer Martino Gamper.

Then you spot designer Lee Broom’s carpetry collection – a sideboard, lamp and coffee table wrapped in Persian rugs.

Suddenly it seems that covering familiar objects in unconventional materials is fast becoming the latest way to dress our homes.

The concept of “wrapping” isn’t new (decoupage, the art of covering objects with paper cut-outs, was very popular in the 18th century) but the trend is gaining fresh momentum as homeowners request wraps for items such as bathtub exteriors, lavatory seats, laptops, telephones and grand pianos.

Wrapping materials, too, are developing in interesting ways. Broom’s specially woven rugs, for example, fuse 15th-century Persian patterns with English elements such as Tudor roses and the crown jewels. “I’m using them more as a textile than a carpet,” he says.

Nor is the trend confined to furniture. The inside of a London penthouse front door was recently cushioned in high-gloss red leather by London-based interior design company Living in Space. “The owners were unable to alter its exterior as all the doors in the communal hall had to be uniform,” says director Anita Kohn. “We came up with an idea that would complement the apartment’s vibrant artworks yet still include a security peep-hole and the required locks.”

An exterior door, meanwhile, was recently wrapped in weather-resistant leather at the Crazy Bear hotel in Beaconsfield, south-east England. The all-weather hide was developed by long-established specialist Alma at its factory in Whitechapel, east London, and buttoned, Chesterfield-style, with Swarovski crystals.
Amberg believes the concept is all about adding glamour. “If you wrap technology – laptops and televisions – in gorgeous leather they become much more beautiful objects,” he says. This also applies to functional items, such as the lavatory seat he wrapped in pearlised silvery-grey leather for one client. The project with Gamper, meanwhile, will steer vellum into new territory. “Rawhide stretches when wet and dries rigid so you can achieve a fit and feel similar to a drum top,” says Amberg. “Previously we’ve covered desks, cabinets, shelves and wall-panelling in vellum because it is very smooth and silky with wonderful colour variation and subtlety but eventually we’ll wrap anything people want.”

Martin Waller, of New York- and London-based interior design company Andrew Martin International, cites further reasons for the trend. “Wrapping is a way of introducing colour,” he says. “People want to add layers and textures to create a warmer, more complete feel. If you wrap a steel table with shagreen or cowhide or an antique textile you add much greater depth.”

Waller previously covered his luggage-like lamp-tables with leather but has now upped the ante with zebra skin. Kilims are used to wrap chests of drawers and he recently started covering chairs and sofa-backs with old, faded cotton flags – generally a Union flag or the Stars & Stripes. “Shagreen and parchment [goatskin], popular materials in the 1930s, are also making a comeback because they create a glamorous, glossy look that people love,” he says.

Giorgio Armani has clearly noted the trend, judging by two limited edition designs launched by Armani Casa at Milan’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile this year. The Adelchi writing table is wrapped with brushed steel panels, finished with 24-carat goldplating, while the Camus desk is clad with tobacco-brown lizard skin.

Look closely at a bronze snake-skin-covered cabinet from Based Upon, a London studio specialising in unusual surface applications, and you realise that the textured surface isn’t skin – it is metal. This type of “wrap” works equally well for vintage or modern furniture. “We were recently asked to change the look of an old oak table, a family favourite for 50 years, so we sandblasted the surface, then brushed on layers of silvery, white metal so you could still see the grain coming through,” says Richard Abell, who runs the company with his twin brother, Ian.

Just as glossy are the designs created by Gunjan Gupta, whose New Delhi-based consultancy, Wrap, works with local artisans. Gupta marries an ancient throne decoration technique with a contemporary aesthetic by wrapping seats and stools in silver and gold leaf. The 24-carat gold-leaf seat of De Throne, shown at Maison et Objet last year, reflects and magnifies its silver-wrapped back, transforming an everyday shape into a design worthy of its name. Similarly Dumroo, a geometrically shaped low seat-cum-table, is wrapped with gleaming, reflective panels. “It reverses the notion of the ‘precious’ being wrapped [for protection or as a gift],” says Gupta.

An equally contemporary take on this ancient technique is found at the Conran Shop, where the Indian mango-wood frames of the 10-seater Kaveri dining table and matching four-drawer chest are wrapped in white metal leaf. “The table has been surprisingly successful because it has a quirky, updated vintage look that fits into any environment,” says Polly Dickens, the Conran Shop’s creative director. “It’s a big, glamorous statement that you can jazz up or tone down.”

That’s exactly why New York-based interior designer Sandra Nunnerley used a silver-coated table made of reclaimed logs in one client’s home. She’s also taken the notion of wrapping quite literally for another client by decorating a contemporary loft space with lookalike parcels – blocks of foam seating wrapped in white felt.

Employing linens, silks, velvets and leather as wrapping materials might sound conventional but the sheer quality of finish achieved by Italian manufacturer Promemoria turns its designs into high art. Take its wall-sized mirrors with purple velvet-wrapped frames or Bilou Bilou, a frisky-looking chair with a frame and legs completely wrapped in bubble-gum pink leather. Both pieces add drama to a room. Meanwhile the Scrigno cabinet, launched at this year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile, is wrapped in velvet and the bronze-handled Venice chest is sumptuously covered in linen.

Designer Tara Bernerd similarly wraps mirror frames in velvet or pony skin and has covered a desk in velvet at the London club Aspinalls. “Wrapping is the ultimate indulgence,” she says. “It takes materials out of their comfort zone and adds another dimension to an interior.”

Antique textiles are used by former sculptor and artist Lisa Whatmough for wrapping mirrors, lighting, furniture and chandeliers. “Some vintage fabrics are too thin or delicate for upholstery and I found that wrapping them over period furniture created unexpected results,” she says. “I use a lot of antique kimono silks, vintage velvets and ticking but also contemporary textiles from Gainsborough Silk and Designers Guild.” This patchwork look is popular with clients looking for a single, bold piece. “It’s not only headboards they want wrapped but entire bed frames,” says Whatmough. “Chandeliers take longest as I pull them apart and wrap each piece separately.”

Whatmough’s company, Squint, also accepts bespoke commissions to wrap entire walls or columns with silk patchwork. “We apply the silks so the weave runs in different directions and when the light catches the cloth it looks very shimmery, very glamorous,” Whatmough says. And very well-dressed too.