Tortie Hoare

Tortie Hoare is a furniture designer specialising in the Medieval process of boiling leather known as 'Cuir Bouilli'. She uses it within her furniture as an eco-friendly alternative to using plastics or resins to create solid 3D shapes. Tortie cuts the leather to size and stitches it by hand before boiling it, during which process it shrinks right down onto the mould. After a week it will have hardened into shape and be ready for combining with wooden components which have to be individually fitted to size before attaching together. She trained as a cabinet maker and claims she is 'just as comfortable with wood as with leather.