Leather vessels debut
A new object series called TRACE — leather vessels derived from observational drawings of the human body — is making its world debut at Milan, with pieces translated into fluid, organic forms and flagged as collectible design. (yankodesign.com)
TRACE, a series of leather vessels by Tel Aviv-based designer Talia Luvaton, is set to make its world debut at Milan Design Week 2026. (luvatonstudio.com, yankodesign.com) Luvaton Studio says the work will be shown at SaloneSatellite in Hall 5, Booth E-13, during Milan Design Week from April 21 to April 26. Yanko Design reported on April 11 that the debut opens April 20, placing the launch within the fair’s opening week. (luvatonstudio.com, yankodesign.com) The vessels began as observational drawings of the human body, then moved into three-dimensional forms shaped in leather. Luvaton Studio describes TRACE as “a sculptural leather vessel translating human movement into form.” (luvatonstudio.com, yankodesign.com) SaloneSatellite is the section of the Milan fair dedicated to emerging designers, and Milan Design Week runs across the city from April 20 to April 26, 2026. That puts TRACE inside the main annual marketplace where young studios try to turn prototypes into commissions, gallery placements, and press attention. (dezeen.com, designboom.com) Milan Design Week remains the biggest annual gathering in the design calendar, with exhibitions spread between the Salone del Mobile fairgrounds and citywide Fuorisalone events. Forbes reported this week that more than 300,000 visitors pass through the fair alone in a typical edition. (forbes.com, designweekguide.com) The project also lands in a Milan season crowded with collectible design, the part of the market where limited-run furniture and objects are sold more like art than mass product. Fuorisalone’s 5VIE district said its 2026 program centers on collectible design, craftsmanship, and experimentation. (fuorisalone.it, galeriemagazine.com) Yanko Design said Luvaton uses vegetable-tanned leather and hand wet-forming, a process that shapes damp leather over a form until it dries into a fixed volume. The result, in the publication’s description, is a surface that holds structure but still reads as soft and body-like. (yankodesign.com, briefly.co) Luvaton’s studio frames the series as part of a broader practice that links body, memory, and material through leather objects. Another project on the studio site, HEALED, is described as tattooed leather vessels about memory, identity, and storytelling. (luvatonstudio.com) The immediate test comes in Milan next week, where hundreds of launches will compete for attention across six days. TRACE arrives there as a small-batch design object, but its pitch is clear: leather can behave less like upholstery and more like sculpture. (luvatonstudio.com, dezeen.com)
