Designer Jena Hall Teams Up With LeatherTECH

Furniture World Magazine

Interior and home furnishings designer, Jena Hall brings a feminine flair to quick-ship leather furniture leader, LeatherTECH. A pioneer in architectural styling and cross-merchandising, Jena Hall is designing a series of transitional and traditional lifestyle groupings aimed at appealing to the final decision maker: women. "In the past, leather furniture has always been designed with a man in mind," Jena said. "Women, however, want their furniture like their clothing: more tactile, sensual and softer." Targeting women consumers - typically the household furnishings buyer - Jena said her creations will include materials, applications, techniques and textures that are unique to leather furniture. In addition, Jena said women typically consider leather furniture to be soft, but cold. "The new Jena Hall Collection is an attempt to warm up leather furniture, making it an attractive addition to any home," she said. The new designs for LeatherTECH will also be coordinated with other Jena Hall pieces, creating real lifestyle settings. "Visual and tactical impact is key with women. They also want design that has a reason for being there," added Jena. "As a result, my new styles for LeatherTECH will use a combination of several materials, all which serve a purpose. We will also use bright colors on frames scaled to generous, yet comfortable, proportions that women, and men alike, will love." In the industry for more than 20 years, Jena's design approach has always focused on creating an environment statement. "In combining products that relate to one another, I can fashion lifestyle groupings that define how people want to live," Jena said. "For LeatherTECH, my new designs will tell a story within each setting, with many options for today' s consumers." Along those lines, Jena plans to create lifestyle groupings for LeatherTECH which will target different demographic segments, varying consumer interests and diverse living styles. According to Jena, the three distinct collection categories include, Fifth Avenue, which entails elegant, sophisticated styling for the fashion and quality-savvy consumer; The Weekenders, for the mature, affluent consumer with the relaxed, leisure lifestyle of a vacation home, and the Modern Classics, for the committed home owner with discernible, classic tastes. Bob Duncan, president of LeatherTECH, said Jena is bringing a new level of couture design to leather upholstery that will greatly impact the industry. "We are excited about this partnership with a designer that has not only has a reputation for lifestyle-awareness, but is expert in creating environments that people want to live in," Duncan said. Bob added that Jena brings a consumer-responsive design focus to her work -- a must for selling to today's customer. "Added to LeatherTECH's advanced manufacturing and quick-ship capabilities, Jena's new collection will meet the special-order needs of varying consumer tastes and styles," Bob said. From the design perspective, Jena said LeatherTECH's progressive and open-minded attitude really opens up a space for creativity and expression. "Partnering with the manufacturing talents of LeatherTECH, we have formed a team-approach in creating this new collection - something which is rarely accomplished in this industry," Jena said. Founded in 1990, LeatherTECH is ranked as one of the top 100 fastest growing corporations in the Dallas area. LeatherTECH manufacturers and ships custom-made leather furniture worldwide, and shows its line of traditional, transitional and contemporary furniture at High Point, in San Francisco and through the company's factory showroom in Dallas.