Porter Designs expands leather upholstery mix

New leather sofas, chairs and sectionals diversify the offerings within its line

PORTLAND, Ore. — Upholstery and case goods resource Porter Designs has more than doubled its leather upholstery mix in recent weeks in response to its popularity in the marketplace and increased demand from its customers.

The company has developed five new leather groups featuring about 30 new frames including sofas, sectionals and chairs. It showed a couple of the new pieces at the April High Point Market, but introduced some of the others at the Pacific Furniture Dealers Conference in Portland just after High Point. It plans to debut others at the summer Las Vegas Market.

Response to the new pieces, the company said, was extremely positive both in High Point and Portland.

While High Point typically draws an audience of larger HNN 125 dealers, the PFD event garners mostly West Coast accounts that don’t travel to High Point every six months, although some have told Porter Designs they plan to return in October. The PFD buying group includes about 50 independent dealers with 92 storefronts in 12 states.

“We are thrilled at the response we have received so far,” said David Weiss, president of Porter Designs. “Because PFD represents a wide variety of stores looking for different styles and price points, we received a lot of positive feedback. In this challenging retail market, it is necessary to have a wide variety of options that are value driven.”

Prior to the development of the five new groups, the company had roughly 15 leather frames, Weiss said, noting that a leather sofa in the new groups starts at $599. They top out with a sectional targeted to retail around $4,999.

The five groups are:



This sofa is part of Porter Designs’ Leather Luxe collection.

+ Leather Luxe, which features premium, aniline-dyed Brazilian leather that is up to 1.6 mm thick. Featuring a range of styles including European contemporary and midcentury modern, it offers sofas, sectionals and chair sets. It is produced mostly in Vietnam but some pieces are made in China.

+ The Good Earth collection, produced in Mexico, has a sustainable story as seen in features ranging from recycled plastic feet to a frame made from oriented strand board made from reprocessed wood particles. Springs and cushion coils are also made with recycled steel, and the sofa backs and cushions are made from repurposed foam and recycled plastic bottles. Packaging is also made from sustainable materials and includes plastic wrap made from recycled plastic and recycled cardboard. In addition, the company said, the 100% top-grain leather is sustainably produced from the highest European standards that ensure no hazardous tanning agents are used. Finishes are also water-based. The leather is also performance-based and is resistant to stains, scratches and fading. The Good Earth includes sofas, sectionals and chairs.


This chair is part of the Caravan collection by Porter Designs.

+ The Studio collection, made in Malaysia, features top-grain leather seating with a PU match. It includes sofas, sectionals, loveseats and chairs.

+ The Promo collection, made in China, is a transitional collection that also features top-grain leather seating and a PU match. It too includes sofas, sectionals, loveseats and chairs.

+ The Caravan collection includes leather accent chairs with solid wood frames in an updated traditional design aesthetic and leather chairs with metal frames featuring a more contemporary look. This line is made in India.

The article can be found here.