High-Style Hide

Kyle Bunting considers himself a puzzle maker. “We are excellent solvers,” says the Owner and Founder of an eponymous Austin, Texas-based studio. “We understand our role is to be a fantastic creative collaborator with designers.”

What Bunting, who was raised in Irving, Texas, creates for his clientele are remarkable decorative hide wall coverings and rugs. With intense colors, sumptuous textures, and often a clear narrative flow, each piece—whether from his online collection or a custom job—is a show-stopping addition to a residence or commercial space.

“My business was derived from a hide art business started by my father,” he says. “He was a mosaic artist who created iconic works of art with scraps of hide, and I turned it into something different.”

Bunting had some design experience, and while living in San Francisco, he decided, after hiring a decorator to do his place, that he wanted to be in that segment of the industry. “My background with hide was more rustic, trending western. But I felt the material lent itself to something more curated, couture, and chic.” 

He also had a background in storytelling from a previous career in the television business with Sky TV, plus good marketing and branding skills, so he leaned into the word “hide” for his new endeavor. “I just thought the word was inferential. It was sensual, with nuance and just the right amount of innuendo,” says Bunting. “It’s an interesting word, and nobody was using it. So, I thought, let’s take it and own it.”

Hide pieces begin with a designer’s idea in sketch form. “We render the project to represent what we can create for the client.” Once approved, the next step is to use vector files to guide the sourcing and cutting of materials. However, these straightforward-sounding aspects mask the immense fun Bunting has with his work.

For example, the Fern Santini home, also featured in Issue 7 of The Living Kitchen magazine, came about because of his longstanding relationship with the designer. “She said she wanted to put a group together to collaborate on what became an iconic home,” says Bunting, “I gathered some like-minded makers to contribute and come together on Santini’s unforgettable project.”

No matter the room, his work stands out. “Whether it’s a vertical or horizontal, it’s very strong, unique,” says Bunting. “It’s tactile, and nobody else does what we do at this level.”

Bunting’s team works with European partners to source his leathers. “The companies that do the leather tanning for us are in municipal districts which are heavily invested in the cleaning and the procurement of environmentally safe materials and processes. For us, it’s important we source from responsible partners.” The tanned hides are then carefully cut and artfully assembled into the rugs, wall coverings, and art, all hand-made in their Austin, Texas studio.

The resulting selections include over 125 signature color options and myriad patterns in natural, solids, metallics, and animal prints. 

The designer collaborators who work with Bunting are some of the industry’s most innovative talents. In addition to Santini, he partners with Abidemi Olowonira, Marc Thee, Amy Lau, DB Kim, Jiun Ho, Jan Showers, and many others. 

Bunting has recently launched his first new product line in decades. “The whole portfolio is now also available in wool and silk,” he says. “They are shimmery like the hide, and you get dimensional changes with the carving, so you have lines reminiscent of our work in hide and height differences with lots of texture.” He adds that the rugs are as practical as they are beautiful. “I flip them around to show they are non-slip, no-pad-needed rugs, and everyone goes nuts!”

Bunting reflects back to when he first began and how a renowned San Francisco design and architecture writer, Diane Dorrans Saeks, told him his ideas had real “design potential.” 

“When we started this business, it was for designers and architects, then a whole subculture of collectors and curators got interested, and now individual homeowners and businesses can work with us or choose something from our in-stock collections.” He feels that in whatever way someone ends up with a Hide piece in their space, it brings a “wow” aspect. “It is always special, and that’s a real nice place to be.”