A collection of toys made from leather offcuts by Swiss designer Adrien Rovero is on show as part of Passionswege at Vienna Design Week this month.

The Passionswege project pairs young designers with traditional Viennese businesses and stores.

Rovero made the toys, called Skinni, in collaboration with leather manufacturer Thomas Posenanski.

Scrap pieces of leather are cut using a computer-controlled machine, folded into animal shapes and secured with rubber fastenings.

Rovero says the project aims to symbolically turn waste material derived from animals back into animals.

Vienna Design Week continues until 11 October.

Here's some text from the designer:

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Skinni

The serie of toys skinni come from the idea to remake animals out of leather skins, as a kind of return in the leather transformation process. These new animals toys are made out pieces of leather folded and assembled by a small caoutchouc parts. The shape of the animals are coming from the materials rather than an figurative approach, this simplicity is an important part of these toys and the folded approach can stimulate imagination.

Another important point is the materials itself. Leather seems to be interesting to feel and touch and, it offer many different tactile feelings and surfaces. Those feelings increase by their structural cuts and holes. They can be manufactured using small pieces of leather and waste.

In few words:
Remake animals with leather skins
Replay with textures and surfaces
Reuse leather waste
Rethink the connections details
Recognise the folded shape

This project has been made for the Vienna Design Week 2009 in Collaboration with Thomas Posenanski leather manufacturer

Edition:
Prototypes

Exhibition :
Passionswege 2009, Vienna