Chris Lehrecke, August Lehrecke, Spencer Fung & Antoine Bootz

Chris Lehrecke’s talent as a designer and his exquisite skill as a craftsman have firmly established him within the New York design community. Although a member of a generation of furniture designers who came of age in the 1980s, he has pursued a stylistic direction antithetical to the highly individualistic and often intentionally provocative work that characterized much of the innovative design of that decade. Marked by clarity and restraint, his furniture exemplifies a rational yet organic approach to design. His latest “Weimar” collection, noticeably different for Lehrecke because of its strong colors, was inspired by the architecture of his youth, as built by his father, and the shapes and palette of the Bauhaus. All of his woodwork is made in his studio in upstate New York. He frequently collaborates with his wife, jewelry designer Gabriella Kiss, who fabricates bronze hardware, as on their “After the Storm” collection utilizing trees felled in storms.

August Lehrecke, the son of longtime RALPH PUCCI artist Chris Lehrecke, presents a series of three-dimensional sculptures. Continuing his family’s passion for craftsmanship rooted in natural materials, August has chosen reeds as his medium, shaping them into sculptures through ancient basket-weaving techniques. Reflecting on his upbringing, he shares, “Growing up in the woods, immersed in my dad’s artistry, cultivated my curiosity and wonder about the natural world from early on.”

Spencer Fung is a British architect, furniture designer and artist. Observing nature through sketching and painting is vital to him. He is drawn to the mysticism of clouds, the power of mountains and the majesty of trees. As a child in Hong Kong, he sought nature by clambering over the granite boulders on the shoreline and watching the dragonflies flit over the water. He studied architecture at Cambridge University and in 1990 founded his London-based architecture practice.
Nature inspires all of his work, and painting is an extension of his energetic creativity. Fung paints with Chinese ink, watercolor and Jurassic clay. He uses soil and minerals from rocks for pigment, lake, river or snow water, and clumps of moss, leaves or bundles of twigs as his paintbrush, sometimes using his fingers and hands to paint directly onto the paper or canvas. These things help him connect with the landscape and bring texture and interest to his work. Increasingly his paintings have become more abstract and expressionist as he reacts emotionally to what he sees in front of him. He is moved by the fragility of the natural world. His recent architectural work includes Daylesford Organic and the multi-award-winning Cotswold country house, the Wild Rabbit. He joined RALPH PUCCI in 2018.

Antoine Bootz’s talents earned him simultaneous success in both fine art and commercial photography worlds. He has enjoyed many solo and group shows of his photography in his native Paris and New York City, his adoptive home. He has also worked on advertising campaigns and editorial projects with Calvin Klein, House & Garden, La Redoute and many others. Bootz has photographed for Ralph Pucci for over 20 years, including the photography for the RALPH PUCCI books, Show and Wall.