London Craft Week: Q&A with Bill Amberg

To say that Bill Amberg is London’s king of leather wouldn’t be far off. Setting up solo in the mid-80s, his studio is now a thriving collective of some of the most skilled leather artisans in the country. As well products, accessories and furniture, his team creates fine leatherwork for some of the capital’s most important residential and historic buildings, turning their skilled hands to curtains, walls, floors – they’d probably turn you into an exquisitely sewn leather-clad sculpture if you stood still long enough.

For London Craft Week, Bill has curated the exhibition Leather – Then and Now at the Eric Parry-designed Leathersellers’ Hall in the City of London (9–12 May). The show pairs unique, historically important pieces from the National Leather Collection with their modern day equivalents, celebrating the exceptional craftsmanship that has long underpinned this age-old material. Alongside this, Bill is also speaking at an Experts in Conversation event on 10 May 2018 at Leighton House Museum. There he’ll discuss his practice with Agnieszka Dobrowolska, a Cairo-based architect responsible for the conservation of many of the city’s historic buildings and the founder of a leather workshop for women in the cemeteries of Cairo’s City of the Dead.

Ahead of these two fascinating events, we wanted to quiz Bill about his studio and get his tips on where to check out top-notch leather in the capital.

How has London’s craft scene changed since you first set up your studio in 1985?

In 1985 living in London was remarkably cheap, rent for both housing and workshops was quite affordable and it was an easy city to live in. There were plenty of warehousing for studio space the biggest issue was the lack of market for products.

Can you tell us a bit about how your practice combines traditional leather working skills with cutting-edge technology?

For me, it is crucial to master all the traditional skills of leatherworking and this would include techniques from saddlery, bookbinding, case making and even shoemaking. This enables you to mix up ideas when creating any new item in leather. Having said that, I’m also fascinated with technology both in terms of new materials and also in techniques, here at the studio we use them all. For example, using CNC cut panels and then employing a bookbinding technique to create a shaped surface. Laser cutting and laser etching are very effective on leather and also incorporating plastics and metals as sub straights within different constructions.

You’ve just leather for products, interiors, even floors – what’s the most challenging project you’ve ever worked on?

Most of our projects now present a challenge of one form or another. Recently we fitted 6m x 5m double-sided leather curtains in a wonderful historic building in central London and we also worked with acoustic engineers when creating seating in a major public lecture theatre soon to be opened this month.

What were your looking for when picking pieces for Then and Now? And if you had to choose one piece to take home with you what would it be and why?

It was important with this show to get a good selection of items to demonstrate how leather is used in both its form and function crossing from purely practical through fashion to luxury. Each has its own extraordinary story and to pick one would be almost impossible and I hope as many people as possible get a chance to choose for themselves.

You’re also speaking at Leighton House Museum during London Craft Week. What other London architectural gems should be on our list if we want to see excellent examples of leatherwork?

Recently we have fitted leather wall panelling and handrails to the fine watch department in Harrods this is a great example of luxury leatherwork. If you fancy a cocktail I suggest the Fumoir bar in Claridge’s where the purple walls are clad in our leather. Or, run your hands up the handrail of the main staircase of Asprey. The exhibition, Leather – Then and Now, is at the Leathersellers Hall where we have clad walls, lifts, and have also designed several pieces of furniture which we are really proud of.

Catch Leather – Then and Now at Leathersellers’ Hall from 9–12 May 2018 and Experts in Conversation at Leighton House Museum on 10 May 2018 at 12.30pm.