Artek + Hender Scheme Stool 60

Hender Scheme puts Alvar Aalto's 1933 Stool 60 in leather shoes, with a vegetable-tanned seat that darkens alongside the wild birch underneath.

Shoes for an Icon

Aalto drew Stool 60 in 1933, and the bent birch L-leg has carried the same round seat ever since. Tokyo leather label Hender Scheme, known for its hand-built shoes, took that idea literally. Each of the three legs now ends in a small fitted leather boot, and the seat is upholstered in natural vegetable-tanned hide.

Made to Age

Artek builds the stool in Finland from its wild birch selection, which keeps the knots, insect trails and color shifts most furniture makers sand away. The leather starts pale and picks up a deep honey tone with use, so a stack of these drifts apart over the years like a row of well-worn boots. It still stacks, and it still works as a seat, side table or plant stand.

The Full Collection

The stool anchors a wider run that wraps Table 90C in leather, reworks the A330 pendant light in hide, and adds a clock, key holder, coasters and separate leg shoes for existing Stool 60 and E60 owners. The leather-topped Stool 60 sells for €542 in limited quantities through Artek, Hender Scheme and a short list of stockists.