When it comes to textiles, perhaps no industry has a history as old and as steeped in tradition as the leather industry. Even dating as far back as prehistoric times, humans have used the skins of animals to satisfy basic needs – clothing and shelter. Leather was indispensable from the start.
There has been much advancement and innovation since then, and today the $100 billion industry is at an all time high. No company is a better testament to this than Rainbow Leather, a New York-based business leading the way in custom leather printing and embossing.
Rainbow Leather has leather in its roots – right down to the company name. Founded in the 1970’s by Samuel Lipson, the son of a Polish tanner, the business began as a venture in Lipson’s home. He started out by printing designs on leather, an innovative procedure at the time. Eventually, that evolved into the 11-person company known today as Rainbow Leather.
Despite its small size, the company is doing big things. The second-generation family business is run by Richard Lipson – son of Samuel Lipson – and has become a leader and innovator in the printing and embossing of leathers and other materials.
“Upon arriving at Rainbow Leather, many designers and individuals alike describe feeling like a kid in a candy store,” explains Lipson of his business. “And if they still don’t see exactly what they’re looking for, we turn to our mantra, ‘Your vision, our creation’, providing completely custom designs.”
Lipson is not exaggerating. Walking into the Queens factory – which services designers of all sorts in the shoe, handbag, accessory, and furniture industries – one is met with countless, unimaginable designs ranging from red boa-embossed suedes to brushed metallic hides, and everything in between.
“We digitally print, sublimation print, heat transfer, foil print. emboss, perforate, snake cut, and decorate on leather, cork and fabric,” says Lipson.
Rainbow Leather combines the future of digital printing technology with the beauty of natural leathers and hides to produce intricate and often-captivating deigns. It offers High Definition printing available in four finishes, including matte, glossy, semi-gloss, and embossed.
The company is not only innovating in the leather industry, it is also expanding its reach and expertise to other materials including cork, fabric, urethane, burlap, and plastic. With all those possibilities, it is hard to imagine a designer not finding what they are looking for, or not discovering something they didn’t even know they wanted.
It is this flexibility that makes Rainbow Leather an industry leader. The company’s mantra – its promise to create anything imagined – gives this tight-knit team a huge edge.
“Custom products, trend forecasting, and flexible turnaround times have all contributed to the company’s success,” says Lipson. “As a long-standing domestic and global company, the Rainbow Leather team goes the extra mile to satisfy designers’ desires.”
It hardy gets more satisfactory than creating in real life what was once only a vision, a design, an idea. However, even the team’s existing designs are vast and exquisite, like flower laminated gold cork, printed geometric patterns on pig suede, and electric blue cow hide. The company’s latest creation? A new snake cutting system that gives leather and fabric a genuine snake look and scale feel.
“My favorite material [that we make] is a multi-color printed python,” shares Lipson. “It is snake cut and you can see the contract of the underlying base leather.”
From snake prints to metallic-embossed designs, Rainbow Leather leaves little to the imagination. The team attends the annual Lineapelle trade show in Milan to gather materials and inspiration. They also source their leathers and other materials from premium suppliers worldwide. This way, Rainbow Leather is not only able to provide its loyal customer base with constant new materials, but also to remain relevant in the trend-forecasting division.
Dominating the company’s upcoming catalog are various animal prints, as well as some abstract and floral prints. But as Lipson says, if you don't see it they will create it for you. Rainbow Leather is always pushing the boundaries, both with design, technology, and production. Ranging from exotic to wildly eccentric, the company remains a pioneer in its field, leading the industry in what’s to come for high-fashion and accessories.