Profile: Emma Werkhoven – Real Leather Design Competitions

Emma Werkhoven

Design Academy Eindhoven

Emma Werkhoven is a Belgian–Dutch designer based in Eindhoven. Her work is rooted in a process of trial and error, where experimentation becomes a tool for discovery. She creates products and furniture inspired by craft, materiality, and the little magical moments that happen during the making process. Always striving to push the boundaries of material and searching for the balance between craft and production. This method is the red thread through her work. In recent years she developed a special love for leather. Learning more about its origins and implications brings ethical questions to the table. Rather than avoiding these tensions, Emma sees them as a source of inspiration, using it as a drive to fuel her research and reflection in her projects. Emma W aims to always keep using leather, and all materials, with care and intention, always staying connected to its meaning, process and origins. She aims to bring connection through her work, inviting both maker and user into a more conscious relationship with the objects they engage with.

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The Weight of the Hide bag

Category: Accessories

Competitions: International

Working with leather inevitably comes with ethical and emotional complexities. That’s why, as a leather designer, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Guided by a Swedish hunter and local tannery, I chose to take responsibility for the life behind the material. Taking care of every step in the process, from hunting and skinning a wild boar to leather tanning and design. I spent a month in Sweden living and working the full process including the dirty work to get a stronger understanding of the material. The following bag translates the story of the material. The hardware, inspired by the bullets, is engraved with a unique serial number. This connects to a leather passport. Documenting every detail of the process and providing transparency about the material. Encouraging the user to form a mindful connection with the story of the material. The shape of the pattern is inspired by the shapes in the tanning process. In the Netherlands, wild boar is often hunted for population control. Though the meat mostly gets used, the skins are rarely used. I am hoping to reintroduce the veg-tanning process in the Netherlands on a small scale, starting with discarded skins from hunters and farmers. I am hoping to bring more awareness to sustainable tanning methods and a mindful approach to using leather. Because a big part of this project is rooted in sharing information and education, I wrote the book “The Weight of the Hide” and host lectures on the topic.