Poltrona Frau Leathership®

Leathership® conveys Poltrona Frau’s extensive expertise in leather craftsmanship - a material that has always been central to the brand’s heritage and identity. Natural, soft and durable, leather is crafted with artisanal expertise to create warm, welcoming luxury interiors and upholstery solutions

Poltrona Frau In Motion brings this expertise to the automotive, yachting and aviation sectors, developing advanced solutions tailored to their specific requirements.
One example is i-Breathe: a leather created through a tanning process that modifies its structure, making it 25% lighter while maintaining the same structural performance as standard leather.
Our collection includes a wide selection of leathers, from pigmented and semi-aniline to aniline, available in different textures and colours. This allows us to identify the most suitable solution for every project: for indoor or outdoor use, softer or more resistant, tailored to the specific requirements of the automotive, aviation or yachting industries, and aligned with the customer’s style and positioning. Sustainability is an integral part of this approach.
A clear example is the new Pelle Frau® Chrome-free, developed specifically for the automotive sector. All leathers in our range are certified and carefully selected to meet the most demanding standards in terms of performance, quality and safety.

 

25%
Pelle i-Breathe lighter
∞
infinite combinations of textures and stitching
Detail of terracotta leather texture with quilted triangular stitching
Detail of rust-colored leather with white contrast diamond stitching
Detail of rust leather with diamond quilting and blue contrast stitching
Detail of rust leather with diagonal perforated stripes
Detail of perforated terracotta leather with geometric triangular stitching
Detail of yellow leather with chevron quilted stitching
Detail of rust leather with perforated diamond pattern
Detail of rust leather with diagonal crosshatch stitching pattern

Other cladding materials

Alongside leather, our research team continuously explores a wide range of upholstery materials and manufacturing techniques, with the aim of developing solutions that meet specific technical requirements and that are increasingly high-performing and sustainable.

This process is based on close co-design with both suppliers and clients. Textiles are not considered merely as decorative coverings, but as surfaces designed to perform at their best when combined with other materials.
Alongside Pelle Frau®, the most widely used upholstery options include high-end fabrics and technical textiles developed in collaboration with leading Italian and international manufacturers, such as Alcantara®, Dinamica, Denim, Spalmotex, Superfabric, Apollo Cripton, Aunde, Technosky, Wool and Loro Piana.
Our work also focuses on innovative and emerging materials, from regenerated leather made by recovering genuine leather offcuts to non-animal alternatives, with particular attention to solutions derived from renewable plant-based sources or recycled materials.
Each fabric and upholstery material is then assessed throughout the entire process — from sourcing and quality control to cutting, stitching and final assembly — to ensure it meets the highest quality standards and the certifications required across the automotive, aviation and yachting sectors.

 

Substrates

The ideal substrate is never a standard choice. It is defined by the specific needs of each project, balancing aesthetics, function, production scale, cost objectives and sustainability requirements.

For high-end automotive interiors, Poltrona Frau In Motion works with a flexible, fully integrated approach.
From the first stages of development, the team collaborates with the client to select, test and combine different materials, creating solutions tailored to each project.
The range is structured around three substrate families, each developed to support industrial flexibility, perceived quality and functional performance.

 

Detail of a Polyurethane RIM component surface, fine-grain technical texture
Polyurethane RIM — Reaction Injection Molding
The Polyurethane RIM is particularly suited to medium- and large-scale components where complex geometries, refined aesthetics and functional performance are essential.
Freshly injection-moulded thermoplastic seat shells in the production area
High-performance thermoplastics
For applications where precision and industrial repeatability are key, high-performance thermoplastics — mainly processed through injection moulding — offer an ideal solution.
Composite material components with a polished finish, ready for assembly
Advanced composite materials
For projects where lightness, sustainability and performance are key, Poltrona Frau In Motion offers composite-based solutions across two main technologies. Natural Fibre Composites (NFPP) combine thermoplastic matrices with natural fibres such as flax, hemp and kenaf, providing a sustainable alternative to conventional materials. Carbon Fibre Composites are suited to applications where high performance is essential, especially in premium and sports-oriented contexts.