Leather Sofas Are Back In Living Rooms

An article at the beginning of the year talked about the return of the leather sofa. But did it ever really go away.

Land of Leather is dead (who will fill those January Sales advertising slots?); long live the leather sofa!

Many people associate leather sofas with naff bachelor pads, posh gentlemen’s clubs or pretentious wine bars and pub refurbishments.

But they are now told to think again. From high spec homes to the retail park show rooms, the leather sofa has become one of the hottest trends in living room furniture.

Leather sofas are also the biggest sellers at some of the UK's largest chains. Interior design and furnishing shops are expanding their leather or faux-leather sofa ranges constantly to satisfy the growing demands of shoppers.

Reports from  upholstery departments across the UK are that demand for leather furniture has soared -  sales of leather sofas have jumped by almost 90 percent last year.

Furniture Choice announced that it is is expanding its range in time for Christmas. Mark Saville, Operations Manager at Furniture Choice said: "We have paid close attention to customer demand over the past year and seen a steady shift towards higher priced items. Leather sofas upholstered in more expensive hides along with leather recliners and corner sofas have all seen improving sales. We have therefore started to bring in new products to cater to this changing customer demand."

“Leather is very strong right now,” says an upholstery buyer for a furniture store that sells over fifty different leather sofas. “This is a real trend, because these are established sofas; it’s not just because we’ve launched something new. This is a very big increase. Last week leather sofas accounted for over half of all of our upholstered furniture sales and this is expected to be surpassed during the sale which will feature some of our best selling products”

So why leather and why now? 

Some attribute the trend to the perception of leather furniture as an investment purchase and the attraction that holds to the post-recession mindset.

“People have held off buying sofas for 18 months because of the economic situation. Now they can see light at the end of the tunnel. But the difference is that they now want to invest in decent furniture that will last, rather than throwaway stuff — the recovery has been strongest in premium leather sofas.”