Making a sculptured basket

Fine Italian leather usually brings to mind shoes, accessories and clothes. Arte & Cuoio and Triangolo, two divisions of the same company, seek to add house and office wares as well as furniture to that list. Right next door to Santa Maria Novella, Arte & Cuoio and Triangolo display their resolutely modern designs. Leather trays, bowls and plates are on display, plus sculptural baskets and boxes, some with linear cutouts resembling brushstrokes in a Cy Twombly painting. Ottomans, beds, chaise longues, etageres, chairs and leather-covered mirror frames are also available. The leathers come in earthen colors as well as vibrant oranges, reds, yellows and greens. And while the designs reflect the present, the dyeing methods draw on an old tradition using extracts from chestnut tree bark and mimosa. The leather is then naturally dried and polished with amber. No synthetics are used.

Prices range from $18 leather key rings to braided leather tagged at $10,000. Arte & Cuoio and Triangolo at Santa Maria Novella, 8411 Melrose Place; (323) 651-3754.

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Andrew Myers