Fit like a glove
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at PLAY
CREATING A WORKSHOP WHERE GLOVES AND BALLS A BASEBALL GUY AND HIS ADVENTURES AS AN ARTISAN
only good to feel and hardwearing and coloured, but also “serious” because the quality must be fit for his clients, mostly professional players and also many enthusiast. As he himself says, “my clients are affluent and they are style-conscious. I am a leather artisan and I use the sculptural elements of sports balls to show how extraordinary this material is. I want people to understand the intrinsic beauty of each ball, to appreciate its essential elegance.” The craftsmen at Leather Head Sports put all their skill into achieving this result. To make just one basketball, eight parts of leather need to be sewn in a three-dimensional perspective: it takes a great deal of practice and skill and at least one hour’s work. Paul Cunningham’s imagination is continuously challenged, as he devises new solutions for his creations. “I am thinking of making a soccer ball, which is, unfortunately, time consuming and difficult to make. I am hoping to perfect it in time for the 2014 World Cup. We have very close
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ties to soccer: my partner, Jeff Bradley, is the brother of Bob, currently Head Coach of the Egyptian national team, and the uncle of Michael Bradley, who plays for Roma. Although I have less time now to supervise customised productions, I always get requests, even from people who have invented a new sport. When it happens, I immediately start to design and check feasibility and costs, and, if it seems practicable, I get down to work.” Far from being just “toys for boys”, the siren song of these seductive, egg-shaped little objects enchants adults even more than kids. Not surprisingly, all Leather Head Sports craftsmen and staff enjoy playing with the balls they make, to test their quality and durability (well, at least that’s their excuse!). In other words, they bring their work home, though in a form that is much more fun than usual. The result of their dedication inside and outside the workshop is under the noses – apparently the serious leather smells wonderful – the eyes and hands of satisfied players worldwide.
PRACTICE AND SKILL To make a basketball it is necessary to sew, in three dimensions, eight separate pieces of leather. At least one hour is needed for each.
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