Furniture factory surplus leather, Interface
Interface sofa leather into durable bags
Interface
Furniture surplus leather
Waste material for reuse
Where does the material for Lovia's trash treasures come from? Interface is one of our partners, with whom we work to reuse waste material. Interface has been manufacturing living room furniture in Finland since 1963, and the company's furniture is known for its high quality, Scandinavian design, and comfort. All Interface furniture is handcrafted in Heinola, taking into account the individual needs of its customers. Responsibility is an important value for the company, which is reflected in high-quality materials, sustainable design, and domestic manufacturing. Making the fashion industry responsible requires concrete actions, and now the pieces of leather left over from sofa upholstery are being transformed into durable bags.
FOUNDED: 1963
LOCATION: HEINOLA, FINLAND
Durable bags made of sofa leather
The production of sofas leaves behind cutting waste, which cannot be used in the production of other furniture due to its small size. Usually, cutting waste ends up in waste, even if the material itself is still completely usable and of very high quality. A pity, isn't it? Small pieces of leather, on the other hand, are the perfect material for Lovia's unique bags, and many durable bags have already been made from the surplus leather from Interface sofas. Sofa leather is designed to withstand wear and tear, so Lovia's bags will become long-term companions for their new owners. This way, new emissions are not constantly generated, as one bag can be used for a long time.
Now you know how the leather ends up at Interface and us at Lovia. But where does the leather come from in the first place? Interface sources the leather used in its sofas from its long-term partners in Europe. The material is tanned into leather in Galzignano, Italy. Tanning is a stage in the processing of leather, the purpose of which is to make the leather hide durable, malleable and well-preserved. From Galzignano, the leather travels to Interface in Heinola, and after upholstery, the surplus pieces arrive at our designer Outi’s desk in Helsinki. That’s when the new life of the leather pieces begins in the form of unique bags.
Greetings from the Heinola factory
We want to give our partners a voice, because without them the idea of utilizing waste material would just remain, well, an idea. Here are some greetings from Interface and snippets from the team's everyday life, just as it appears at the factory in Heinola.
"The surplus leather produced during the upholstery process is recycled. Our leather cutter cuts the upholstery by hand and strives to use the hides as precisely as possible. However, due to the natural shape of the hides, some surplus material is generated from the production of leather-covered furniture. These waste pieces are used to make, for example, Lovia's unique bags."
-Eija Isomäki, sales & production, Interface
We do a lot of good, but we are not perfect.
The stories told on this page sound great and we are proud of them, but what next? There is always room for improvement when it comes to responsibility.
We share a vision with Interface that even the smallest surplus shreds could be given a new life. We already save pieces of leather that are too small for furniture upholstery, but there are still small pieces and shreds that end up in the trash. We want to find a solution for how it would be possible to utilize the shreds, for example as raw material for recycled material. We could use this material again as the material for our new bags.
We also plan to experiment with a new collaboration model with Interface, where we provide Interface with the sizes of leather pieces we need and Interface will deliver the right size pieces directly to us, without the Lovia team having to travel to Heinola to separately research the available options. This way we will reduce emissions from transportation and the emissions from the manufacturing of our bags as a whole. Responsibility is a journey that we are not yet finished with, but we constantly want to find new areas for development. Welcome to join us!
Interface
Furniture surplus leather
Waste material for reuse
Where does the material for Lovia's trash treasures come from? Interface is one of our partners, with whom we work to reuse waste material. Interface has been manufacturing living room furniture in Finland since 1963, and the company's furniture is known for its high quality, Scandinavian design, and comfort. All Interface furniture is handcrafted in Heinola, taking into account the individual needs of its customers. Responsibility is an important value for the company, which is reflected in high-quality materials, sustainable design, and domestic manufacturing. Making the fashion industry responsible requires concrete actions, and now the pieces of leather left over from sofa upholstery are being transformed into durable bags.
FOUNDED: 1963
LOCATION: HEINOLA, FINLAND
Durable bags made of sofa leather
The production of sofas leaves behind cutting waste, which cannot be used in the production of other furniture due to its small size. Usually, cutting waste ends up in waste, even if the material itself is still completely usable and of very high quality. A pity, isn't it? Small pieces of leather, on the other hand, are the perfect material for Lovia's unique bags, and many durable bags have already been made from the surplus leather from Interface sofas. Sofa leather is designed to withstand wear and tear, so Lovia's bags will become long-term companions for their new owners. This way, new emissions are not constantly generated, as one bag can be used for a long time.
Now you know how the leather ends up at Interface and us at Lovia. But where does the leather come from in the first place? Interface sources the leather used in its sofas from its long-term partners in Europe. The material is tanned into leather in Galzignano, Italy. Tanning is a stage in the processing of leather, the purpose of which is to make the leather hide durable, malleable and well-preserved. From Galzignano, the leather travels to Interface in Heinola, and after upholstery, the surplus pieces arrive at our designer Outi’s desk in Helsinki. That’s when the new life of the leather pieces begins in the form of unique bags.
Greetings from the Heinola factory
We want to give our partners a chance to have their voices heard, because without them the idea of utilizing waste material would just remain, well, an idea. Here are some greetings from Interface and snippets from the team's everyday life, just as it appears at the factory in Heinola.
"The surplus leather produced during the upholstery process is recycled. Our leather cutter cuts the upholstery by hand and strives to use the hides as precisely as possible. However, due to the natural shape of the hides, some surplus material is generated from the production of leather-covered furniture. These waste pieces are used to make, for example, Lovia's unique bags."
-Eija Isomäki, sales & production, Interface
We do a lot of good, but we are not perfect.
The stories told on this page sound nice and we are proud of them, but what next? There is always room for improvement when it comes to responsibility. We share a vision with Interface that even the smallest surplus shreds could be given a new life. We are already saving pieces of leather that are too small for furniture upholstery, but there are still small pieces and shreds that end up in the trash. We want to find a solution for how it would be possible to utilize the shreds, for example as raw material for recycled material. We could use this material again as material for our new bags.
We also plan to experiment with a new collaboration model with Interface, where we provide Interface with the sizes of leather pieces we need and Interface will deliver the right size pieces directly to us, without the Lovia team having to travel to Heinola to separately research the available options. This way we will reduce emissions from transportation and the emissions from the manufacturing of our bags as a whole. Responsibility is a journey that we are not yet finished with, but we constantly want to find new areas for development. Welcome to join us!
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