Luca Greenway

Restoring Provenance explores how we might work with leather in a more ethical and environmentally conscious way. The project highlights the role of regenerative farming and agricultural biodiversity in promoting livestock health and reducing the environmental impact of raising cattle.

The project's outcome, the Hereford Chair, features a solid oak frame and leather supplied by British Pasture Leather, an organisation that facilitates a transparent and traceable material supply chain. The hides used were traced to Conygree Farm in Aldsworth, where Hereford Cattle are raised, from which the chair takes its name. The leather is vegetable tanned, a low-intervention production method that is more environmentally friendly and preserves the hide’s natural surface markings.

By taking this approach to working with leather, it has been possible to restore provenance to a material that is commonly stripped of its story, reconnecting it to the animals, farmers and tanners that played a role in its production.