Image - Paul Read Photography, paulreadphotography.com
As part of this year’s London Design Festival, Bill Amberg Studio will host Next Generation, a dynamic showcase celebrating emerging design talent and the future of leather this 13th - 19th September.
In partnership with Kingston University’s Product & Furniture Design MA course, and supported by The Leathersellers’ Foundation, the exhibition presents a curated selection of experimental leather projects exploring circular design, material ethics and innovative making.
Set within Bill Amberg’s working studio in the Park Royal Design District, the exhibition offers visitors a rare opportunity to experience this body of student work in situ, surrounded by the tools, materials and craft processes that have inspired and supported the projects’ development.
Over the past year, MA students at Kingston have participated in The Leathersellers’ Surplus Leather Project, an initiative that diverts high-quality offcuts and surplus hides from landfill and redistributes them to universities. Bill Amberg has played a central role in mentoring the students throughout this journey, offering studio access, technical support, materials and insight that has encouraged experimentation and bold thinking.
The results are diverse, process-led and deeply engaged with questions around circular design and the cultural value of materials. From bead-rolled structural furniture to wet-moulded vessels, the works reimagine what leather can do, and who it is for.
Among the featured projects are Ting Wan Hsu’s Rolling Chair, formed using metalworking techniques to create fluid, sculptural curves from thick, rigid folded leather; Joe Jackson’s Score, which revisits historic hot water moulding through a delicate process of scoring; and Aleks Cwikla’s Knit Leather, which subverts gendered craft associations by knitting strips of leather into domestic vessels shaped by water and heat.
Other highlights include Slide In, a no-hardware chair by Kenji Chang combining white oak and leather through sliding, joinery-inspired construction; Gabriel Oladapo’s innovative use of leather as a jointing mechanism in timber furniture; Kam Liang’s collapsible seat structure explores leather's inherent flexibility and avoids a fixed form; and Owen Li’s contemporary wet-formed trays and vessels using CNC-carved moulds.
"People often assume craftsmanship is dying, but in my experience it’s the opposite," reflects Bill Amberg. "There’s a real hunger to get involved. Young designers are eager to learn, experiment, and push what materials like leather can do, and it’s our job to give them space and access to do that."
The exhibition forms part of Bill Amberg Studio’s ongoing commitment to mentorship, materials education and the cultural preservation of leathercraft. It is also a celebration of London as a making city, one where workshops, studios and creative communities continue to shape the future of design.
