Zips & Seams of The Barcelona Chair

Barcelona Chair Zippers

Today the cushions of the Barcelona Chair commonly have color matched, heavy duty, plastic zippers running the length of the bottom edge of the back rest, and, under the seat cushion, along the back edge of the downward facing surface. (running along side the air vent commonly found here).

The zippers allow manufacturers to insert the foam cushion into the leather upholstery.

History of the zipper.

The history of the zipper used on the Barcelona cushion is a long and interesting one indeed.

Elias Howe patented an "Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure" in 1851, however as the inventor of the sewing machine which was a tremendous success, he did not pursue this "less important" invention and therefore, like many other inventors before and after him, simply enabled others to either reinvent or take credit for his design.

In 1893 Whitcomb Judson, the inventor of the Pneumatic Street Railway marked a "Clasp Locker" which was similar to Howe's device. Designed as a shoe fastener, it still was not referred to as a "zipper" but its inventor, together with businessman Colonel Lewis Walker went into production under the auspices of a company called the Universal Fastener Company. The fastener saw the light of day at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 but met with no discernable commercial success. Fortunately, in the hands of Swedish electrical engineer, Gideon Sundbach who had immigrated to Canada and gone to work at the plant, the fastener was continually improved upon, until in 1913 it more readily resembled the fastener which we take so much for granted today. Sundbach took out a patent in 1917 and B.F. Goodrich company decided to use it on their new rubber galoshes. They at last named it "The Zipper" and the rest as they say, is history.

Seams

The seams of the barcelona chair are quite complex. The characteristic patchwork of the cushions is comprised on individual sections, (called biscuits). These are sewn together with the leather tube that consitutes the piping, sandwiched in between them. The corner junctions between these sections have 16 layers of leather that have to be neatly sewn together.

Leather needles, also known as Glovers needles have a triangular shaped point for piercing the leather without tearing it. Used on leather, suede, vinyl and plastic. Sizes 3/0-10.