Leather is an age-old material, connecting us to a long line of ancestors who utilized this medium in much the same way as we do today. More leather objects survive from our earliest civilizations than almost any other material used for clothing, treated with oils or waxes that preserve and protect for millennia. If we allow it, leather could replace a multitude of plastic applications in our near future—naturally durable, and even waterproof under the right conditions. It was never limited to garments alone: vessels, for drinking or storage, once held food, water, and valuables, imbuing the material with an inherent reverence. Using a specialized wet-forming technique, Talia Luvaton presents TRACE Leather Vessels, showing in Milan Design Week 2026.
Translating human movement into hardened leather forms, Luvaton taps into a generational lineage of making with this collection, developed especially for the occasion. Rooted in observational drawings of the human body, TRACE begins with fluid, organic lines that are later extracted, abstracted, and transformed into three-dimensional objects. Using her grandfather’s shoemaking tools alongside custom molds, traditional techniques, and contemporary sensibilities form new relationships—a bond that both revives and sustains the craft for future makers.
Immediately recognizable, each vessel bears the curves and gestures of the human body, composed of separately formed elements that come together in an organic, almost anatomical whole. Each piece is one of a kind, beholden to the natural variations of vegetable-tanned leather—its shifts in tone, texture, and grain. Luvaton’s process is intuitive, often guided by drawing and hands-on experimentation, allowing the material itself to inform the outcome. It is a continuous dialogue between hand, body, and mind.
As these panels are stretched and shaped, a quiet tension emerges between softness and strength. When porous, the leather is open and pliable, responsive to pressure, moisture, and time—a sponge awaiting transformation. Once dried and treated, it hardens into something protective like a shield or second skin. In this way, the process becomes a kind of crystallization into something new—a metamorphosis that is perhaps not strictly chemical, but deeply material, even spiritual.
Luvaton works within the boundaries of an ancient material while pushing it beyond its conventional role as surface into something structural and expressive. The vertices of the human form are translated into leather, creating vessels that feel both intimate and enduring. Her practice is deeply rooted in a family lineage of craftsmanship—both parents jewelers, a grandfather a shoemaker—carrying forward tools, techniques, and a sensitivity to making that transcends generations. TRACE becomes an extension of that continuum: a collection that holds not only form, but memory itself.
To learn more about TRACE Leather Vessels, visit luvatonstudio.com.
Photography courtesy of Talia Luvaton.
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