Unsung Icons: Leather

DAVID SMIEDT TAKES AN IRREVERENT, BUT APPRECIATIVE, LOOK AT THE CLASSIC THINGS THAT DEFINE YOU-BEAUT AUSSIE LIFE

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Leather has been a central part of Australian life for millennia. Centuries before colonization, Indigenous people worked the flesh of emus into magnificent cloaks with designs etched using oyster shells, bone and stone tools. The First Fleet, and those who came after brought with them tanning skills: not so much in their complexions, but in their leather goods. The result was material that served you from mangrove to mountains. It was known to weather immaculately, could be repurposed when needed and was crafted by hand – hipster heaven. And you can be sure they existed back then – just look at all those beards and beehives.

Point is, leather has been in our homes for a very long time. For a while, we drank the Kool-Aid and decided that too much leather was never enough. In an ’80s splurge, which saw more of the stuff than a Mardi Gras parade, we summarily decided that our sofas covered in the fabric would simply no longer do. Urged on by shouty commercials featuring business owners – themselves leathery – we went hell for you-know-what. It was the sectional revolution.