Hyundai Transys, the global auto parts manufacturer and Hyundai Motor Group affiliate, today unveiled its innovative future mobility seat concept at Lineapelle International Leather Fair 2022, the largest trade show of its kind, taking place in Milan, Italy, Feb. 22–24.
At the show, Hyundai Transys is exhibiting its color-material-finish (CMF) concept seat in the fair's innovation section under the theme 'Shift to Regenerative Mobility'. The company developed new sustainable leather and other regenerative materials in partnership with Italian and Korean manufacturers to create an innovative seat concept from tanning waste. Hyundai Transys selected the leather fair to showcase the concept in line with the company's push for a sustainable future.
Launched in 1981, Lineapelle is the most important international exhibition dedicated to leather, accessories, components, synthetics and models for footwear, leather goods, garments and furniture. With a shared value of sustainability, Hyundai Transys worked with Lineapelle to utilize upcycled leather and other sustainable materials developed by innovative Italian manufacturers Dani S.P.A., Manifattura di Domodossola and Dyloan as well as Korean suppliers Dual and ATKO Planning.
The concept seat embodies their shared value of sustainability through its use of regenerative materials, and visualizes that value transcending time and space with a design concept called 'Seoul to Milan.' The concept links the cities through colors and patterns, particularly the two main hues, dubbed 'Seoul Grey' for the Korean capital's metropolitan cityscape and granite peaks, and 'Milano Brown' for the Italian city's classical buildings and legendary tanneries. In addition, Seoul's city lights are translated as pixels while Milan's towering gothic Duomo cathedral is conveyed as stripes.
Tanned leathers are used in the seat sections where durability is required, and woven leathers are used in the seatback bolsters, giving a different textural twist while minimizing leather waste from cutting. Leather scraps were ground to powder and regenerated into yarn, which was later combined with yarn made from recycled PET bottles to create a unique regenerated fabric for the floor area.
Along with these innovative materials, Hyundai Transys used upcycled felt fabric and 3D printing to structure the headrest out of regenerated aluminum powder to give the model a cohesive look while demonstrating sustainable applications of such materials. The seat frame model is also an upcycled product from 2018, brought back to life for this project to provide a sustainable approach inside-out.
"When autonomous driving mobility spaces become everyday places in our lives, material research and development from the eco-friendly perspective shown in this concept seat will become more important for the future of mobility," said Sung-kyung Hong, Design Team Lader at Hyundai Transys.
The automotive industry is one of the biggest leather users, due to the material's luxuriousness and durability. However, sustainability and ethical issues have made leather challenging to use in recent years. The new approach to leather regeneration shown through Hyundai Transys' future mobility seat concept sets a meaningful milestone for the future direction of sustainable materials.
Hyundai Transys' booth at Lineapelle shows the company's vision of a sustainable future and its work with innovative partners to achieve it. The booth provides an immersive space for visitors to experience various aspects of the future mobility seat design — from a storyboard showing how the project started to the display of the partners' sustainable materials and a resting zone with stools covered in upcycled leather. For customers who feel uneasy about visiting the booth due to the ongoing pandemic, Hyundai Transys is also providing a virtual exhibition page.
Hyundai Transys minimizes its environmental impact by reducing waste, transitioning to reusable energy and developing eco-friendly products based on its vision, 'Transformation to Sustainable Mobility.' The company also has been working to revolutionize interior space and seat design for future mobility solutions, such as autonomous driving and electric vehicles that offer new opportunities for innovation. The CMF concept shown at Lineapelle is an important step toward aligning its product offerings with Hyundai Motor Group's vision of clean mobility and the goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.
After Lineapelle, Hyundai Transys's mobility seat concept will be displayed at Spazio Lineapelle, Lineapelle's HQ in Milan from April to June and will continue to be exhibited at Milan Design Week in June 2022 for a broader audience.
About Lineapelle
LINEAPELLE is the leading world trade fair focusing on leather and the leather industry, with two editions a year, including one in Milan (Fieramilano Rho) with over 1,200 exhibitors from 40 countries and more than 42,000 visitors, featuring footwear, leather goods, garments and furniture sectors, from 100 countries.
