'Skin' furniture is meant to evoke feel and SMELL of human flesh

By Katy Winter Published: 07:15 EST, 29 July 2014 | Updated: 08:14 EST, 29 July 2014 90 View comments While interior design taste differ widely, most of us focus on style, price and comfort when picking out furniture.

Fancy a 'skin chair' in your sitting room? Bizarre furniture is meant to evoke the feel - and SMELL - of human flesh, so you can 'bond' with your home furnishings

  • The seats are meant to mimic the appearance of fat rolls
  • Leather is stretched over the base, imitating the look of human skin
  • The fabric is made of a 'pheromone-impregnated silicone base'
  • Artists hopes user will form a 'bond' with the chair when they sit in it
  • Also hopes it will make us question how comfortable we are in our own skin

By Katy Winter

Published: 07:15 EST, 29 July 2014 | Updated: 08:14 EST, 29 July 2014

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While interior design taste differ widely, most of us focus on style, price and comfort when picking out furniture.

But a bizarre range of furniture has a rather different selling point: it is meant to evoke the feel - and smell - of human flesh.

British designer Gigi Barker created the handmade 'skin stool' and 'skin chair' to recreate the sensation of sitting on a naked body.

The fabric is made of a 'pheromone-impregnated silicone base', aimed to mimic the smell of human skin

The fabric is made of a 'pheromone-impregnated silicone base', aimed to mimic the smell of human skin

Gigi at work in her studio creating the chairs Artist Gigi wanted to explore the 'intricate subtleties and varieties of the skin surface' through the furniture

Artist Gigi (left creating the stool in her workshop and right, with the finished articles) wanted to explore the 'intricate subtleties and varieties of the skin surface' through the furniture

They were conceived as part of a project called 'A Body of Skin'.

It saw her study the 'texture of skin and the shape of the body' as well as explore 'the intricate subtleties and varieties of the skin surface and the volume of the flesh'.

The fabric is made of a 'pheromone-impregnated silicone base', which is said to mimic the texture and smell of the unnamed male model she used as inspiration for the pieces.

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The seats are meant to ape the appearance of fat rolls, while leather is stretched over the base, imitating the look of human skin.

The smell is also designed to evoke the model's aftershave.

Gigi, pictured here with her work, conceived the pieces as part of a project called 'A Body of Skin'

Gigi, pictured here with her work, conceived the pieces as part of a project called 'A Body of Skin'

A picture on the male model upon whom the pieces were based, surrounded by Gigi's sketches of possible designs

A picture on the male model upon whom the pieces were based, surrounded by Gigi's sketches of possible designs

A baby lies in one of the pieces, which aim to recreate the sensation of sitting on a naked body

A baby lies in one of the pieces, which aim to recreate the sensation of sitting on a naked body

'I wanted to create shapes that were not instantly recognizable as chairs. That made the viewers question how to interact with the shapes and to form their own conclusions,' she said.

Barker, who founded Studio 9191 hopes that when someone sits on the chair, they will form a bond - and make users question the level of comfort they have in their own skin.

The Skin chair is available for £1,500 on her site, while the matching ottoman is £440.

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