Salmon Skin Upholstery - All the Rage for Eco-Friendly Superyachts

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
Sep 22nd 2010 at 11:01AM

Some people find the very idea of an "eco-friendly superyacht" simply ridiculous. If you're willing to accept that a floating monument to conspicuous consumption can somehow be good for the environment however, you'll probably agree that it should have a decor to match. Hence the growing trend in "guilt-free" luxury furnishings designed to take the edge off all that over-spending. The latest of these is salmon skin leather (above), being touted as an environmentally-friendly, ecologically sound and cruelty-free upholstery suitable for the finest superyacht interiors. The leader in the field is a German company called Nanai, which sources the skins from fish raised on certified organic salmon farms in Ireland.

With an appearance similar to python skin, salmon hide looks convincingly like exotic leather when vegetable-tanned and dyed (and deodorized). It's light and thin, yet durable and resistant to tearing. As the skins form a by-product of the salmon industry, the fish are not specifically bred or killed for the stuff – which might keep eco-crusaders happy if they weren't opposed to salmon farming to begin with. It remains to be seen whether oligarchs like Roman Abramovich will send their superyachts back to have their stingray and alligator upholstery swapped for salmon skin. Cue the cracks about "something fishy" but don't hold your breath.

Tags: eco-friendly, environment, exotic leather, fish, interior design, Nanai, python, Roman Abramovich, salmon, salmon leather, salmon skin, superyacht, yacht