​We talked with many of the bigger subcontractors to the furniture industry – but none of them could do the required leatherwork for such a complicated shape.

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So instead of continuing to look at the established mass-producers, we looked for the craftsmen of the old school and we came across a number of leather pieces and furniture by Helena Engström (www.h-ide.se). So thrilled with the craftsmanship and quality of her work compared to everything else that we’d seen, we set up a meeting with her in May 2009. To our surprise, Cissi and Michael had lived across from her shop for 5 years – a workshop that her father had had there since 1961 and with whom she had trained and schooled to become the fantastic leatherworker that she is today.

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Stepping into her workshop is like going into a connoisseur cigarstore – the smell, the tools, the materials all speak volumes of experience, hard work and beautiful handwork – and most importantly the pride in the quality of the work.

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And the Ballerina Sweetspot was exactly the kind of chair that provided both a challenge – and proof of her skills and quality of work.

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The leather is wetshaped around individual moulds before being swept around each cushion – creating a tight and visually stunning cushion – looking like it’s almost being vacuum-packed to the actual chair.

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The leather is bought from Tärnsjö Garveri – a tanning and leatherworks company established in 1873. We’ve chosen a soft leather that comes from mostly Swedish and other nordic animals (something which means that there are less insect bites and other types of general faults in the leather), then vegetable (eco-) tanned according to the inherited traditions and in the ways of the Tärnsjö forefathers. The use of vegetable-based organically tanned leather is chosen for minimal impact on the natural environment.

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The chair itself is swept with one complete hide only – with only the armrests being stiched on separately – to create and enhance the uninterrupted sweeping curves of the Ballerina Sweetspot. Under the leather hide, a thinner layer of felt is added to both protect the leather from wear, as well as softening the touch to the chair.

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To succeed requires a master craftsman – or woman, and Helena is such a person.

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The result is the Ballerina Sweetspot in all its beauty and intended functionality – most likely the world’s first purpose designed listening chair for the hifi-interested, music loving, audiophile.