Living Earth Crafts has distinguished itself with furniture for the
spa industry that combines high design with seamless functionality.
Brian Paris gives us insight into the company’s stylish new introductions
The Wilshire LE Pedicure chair has a small footprint and an on-trend mid-century design aesthetic
Can you tell us about the new products you’ve just debuted at ISPA? We launched a few large items and a few smaller ones, but the Wilshire LE Pedicure chair was the star of the show – it’s a compact mani/pedi chair with a retractable, motorised, fully plumbed pedicure bowl. It takes up a significantly smaller footprint than a traditional pedi chair, is designed for ‘social spa-ing’, and also has a fun mid-century design aesthetic that people really responded to. It’s a truly beautiful and unique concept for pedicure and lounge furniture. We’ll be shipping our first production units in November, and we already have incredible demand.
Our Ella Wave Lounger was also a big hit at ISPA. It’s a zero-gravity, gentle rocking relaxation lounger that’s activated by a guest’s own natural movements – move your toes, and you rock gently, or lift your arms over your head and you move more. It’s equipped with a Strata GT SpaMattress with GelTech technology, so it’s also super-comfortable, and perfect for a relaxation lounge, quiet space or even a salt room. People were visiting it over and over at ISPA to lie in its curves. We didn’t need to reinvent the lounger – we just gave it a new spin, added a little sway – and we perfected it.
It’s always exciting to reveal these new ideas to the spa world. We were the most crowded that we’ve ever been at ISPA and our constant innovation is something that our top clients expect.
Where do you find inspiration for your designs? Inspiration comes in many forms, this year we were inspired by both classic design and one surprise ‘aha’ moment.
For example, the new Wilshire LE Pedicure Chair is a derivative of our Club LE chair, which won this year’s Innovation Award from ISPA. Our clients loved the technology, but we wanted to give it a more social spin. This is not your typical pedicure, it is low-lying, with a small footprint and a flash of mid-century design.
The “aha” moment was with our newly designed Ella Wave Lounger. I live in San Diego and have learned to appreciate the mindfulness that surfing brings. One day I was lying on my surfboard, just beyond the waves to relax. As a small swell went under, it made this gentle rocking motion. It was exactly what our Wave Lounger needed… and voila!
Can you tell us a bit about the design and engineering process for your products? We thrive in the manta of ‘form+function’. While I can create designs and ideas for the aesthetics, it takes real engineering to create the correct mechanicals and features, and to perfect the movements of our furniture. Our in-house engineers are phenomenal and have helped craft these amazing pieces.
The electronically retracting pedicure basin on the Wilshire LE pedicure chair was a challenge but our team clearly hit the mark. The Wilshire LE will revolutionise spa design, creating a beautifully compact unit with a minimal footprint – all while being very ‘high design’.
What is your background in design and engineering, and how did you get where you are today? My father was a design engineer. I was six years old when I learned how to use drafting tools, so I’ve always had a talent for rendering. I’m a bit old-fashioned, as every piece we create starts with a pencil drawing for my initial concepts.
When I came into the spa business nearly two decades ago, design development was the first talent that I applied. I instantly fell into spa design and concepts, but furniture is definitely my real love. While I’m a partner in our companies and manage our global sales, I’m secretly a furniture design aficionado. It’s my passion, but it was developed through a lifetime of study and years of consulting and design work.
I definitely learned the most when I worked for Robert Redford at Sundance. He taught me the value of storytelling in my design work and how that can bring a guest – and spa – experience to life.
What are the biggest things that set LEC products apart from your competition? LEC has won the American Spa magazine Professional’s Choice Awards for Best Treatment Table and Favorite Company for Manufacturer Support nine times in a row. We’ve won the Pedicure Equipment Category. We’ve won ISPA’s Innovator Award four times in the last five years.
Our company is growing each year at an unprecedented rate, and LEC is known for innovation, service, support – and listening to our customers. We take each and every relationship to heart. We support and build for nearly every major spa operator in the world, but we value every single customer and show our love and appreciation by giving the best possible experience when purchasing spa, wellness and pedicure furniture.
Interview: Thomas Klein
Senior living, family resorts and urban retreats are all on the cards for Canyon Ranch says COO and president Thomas Klein. Katie Barnes finds out more
Trends: Spa Foresight™ 2018/19
Spa Business’ predictions for the future include vegan spas, blue light antidotes, home wellness and plastic-free facilities
Interview: Dietmar Mueller-Elmau
The owner of Germany’s Schloss Elmau tells Spa Business why music, culture and spa feed the mind and soul
Promotional feature: Living Earth Crafts
Living Earth Crafts has distinguished itself with furniture for the spa industry that combines high design with seamless functionality. Brian Paris gives us insight into the company’s stylish new introductions
Event report: GWS 2018 - Bella vita
An Italian inspired Global Wellness Summit featured fashion, food, fitness and spa… and cameos from Hugh Jackman and Oprah Winfrey. Spa Business gives its highlights
Research: Growing up
Spa is the fastest growing sector of the US$4.2tn global wellness economy according to the latest GWI research
Event report: WTA Conference
What do wellness travellers want? And what issues need to be addressed as the wellness tourism sector grows? Anne Dimon reports from the inaugural meeting of the Wellness Tourism Association
Fitness: Inhale the future
Ashley Neese tells Spa Business about the possibilities of breathwork and opening up the practice to more people
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Living Earth Crafts has distinguished itself with furniture for the
spa industry that combines high design with seamless functionality.
Brian Paris gives us insight into the company’s stylish new introductions
The Wilshire LE Pedicure chair has a small footprint and an on-trend mid-century design aesthetic
Can you tell us about the new products you’ve just debuted at ISPA? We launched a few large items and a few smaller ones, but the Wilshire LE Pedicure chair was the star of the show – it’s a compact mani/pedi chair with a retractable, motorised, fully plumbed pedicure bowl. It takes up a significantly smaller footprint than a traditional pedi chair, is designed for ‘social spa-ing’, and also has a fun mid-century design aesthetic that people really responded to. It’s a truly beautiful and unique concept for pedicure and lounge furniture. We’ll be shipping our first production units in November, and we already have incredible demand.
Our Ella Wave Lounger was also a big hit at ISPA. It’s a zero-gravity, gentle rocking relaxation lounger that’s activated by a guest’s own natural movements – move your toes, and you rock gently, or lift your arms over your head and you move more. It’s equipped with a Strata GT SpaMattress with GelTech technology, so it’s also super-comfortable, and perfect for a relaxation lounge, quiet space or even a salt room. People were visiting it over and over at ISPA to lie in its curves. We didn’t need to reinvent the lounger – we just gave it a new spin, added a little sway – and we perfected it.
It’s always exciting to reveal these new ideas to the spa world. We were the most crowded that we’ve ever been at ISPA and our constant innovation is something that our top clients expect.
Where do you find inspiration for your designs? Inspiration comes in many forms, this year we were inspired by both classic design and one surprise ‘aha’ moment.
For example, the new Wilshire LE Pedicure Chair is a derivative of our Club LE chair, which won this year’s Innovation Award from ISPA. Our clients loved the technology, but we wanted to give it a more social spin. This is not your typical pedicure, it is low-lying, with a small footprint and a flash of mid-century design.
The “aha” moment was with our newly designed Ella Wave Lounger. I live in San Diego and have learned to appreciate the mindfulness that surfing brings. One day I was lying on my surfboard, just beyond the waves to relax. As a small swell went under, it made this gentle rocking motion. It was exactly what our Wave Lounger needed… and voila!
Can you tell us a bit about the design and engineering process for your products? We thrive in the manta of ‘form+function’. While I can create designs and ideas for the aesthetics, it takes real engineering to create the correct mechanicals and features, and to perfect the movements of our furniture. Our in-house engineers are phenomenal and have helped craft these amazing pieces.
The electronically retracting pedicure basin on the Wilshire LE pedicure chair was a challenge but our team clearly hit the mark. The Wilshire LE will revolutionise spa design, creating a beautifully compact unit with a minimal footprint – all while being very ‘high design’.
What is your background in design and engineering, and how did you get where you are today? My father was a design engineer. I was six years old when I learned how to use drafting tools, so I’ve always had a talent for rendering. I’m a bit old-fashioned, as every piece we create starts with a pencil drawing for my initial concepts.
When I came into the spa business nearly two decades ago, design development was the first talent that I applied. I instantly fell into spa design and concepts, but furniture is definitely my real love. While I’m a partner in our companies and manage our global sales, I’m secretly a furniture design aficionado. It’s my passion, but it was developed through a lifetime of study and years of consulting and design work.
I definitely learned the most when I worked for Robert Redford at Sundance. He taught me the value of storytelling in my design work and how that can bring a guest – and spa – experience to life.
What are the biggest things that set LEC products apart from your competition? LEC has won the American Spa magazine Professional’s Choice Awards for Best Treatment Table and Favorite Company for Manufacturer Support nine times in a row. We’ve won the Pedicure Equipment Category. We’ve won ISPA’s Innovator Award four times in the last five years.
Our company is growing each year at an unprecedented rate, and LEC is known for innovation, service, support – and listening to our customers. We take each and every relationship to heart. We support and build for nearly every major spa operator in the world, but we value every single customer and show our love and appreciation by giving the best possible experience when purchasing spa, wellness and pedicure furniture.
Interview: Thomas Klein
Senior living, family resorts and urban retreats are all on the cards for Canyon Ranch says COO and president Thomas Klein. Katie Barnes finds out more
Trends: Spa Foresight™ 2018/19
Spa Business’ predictions for the future include vegan spas, blue light antidotes, home wellness and plastic-free facilities
Interview: Dietmar Mueller-Elmau
The owner of Germany’s Schloss Elmau tells Spa Business why music, culture and spa feed the mind and soul
Promotional feature: Living Earth Crafts
Living Earth Crafts has distinguished itself with furniture for the spa industry that combines high design with seamless functionality. Brian Paris gives us insight into the company’s stylish new introductions
Event report: GWS 2018 - Bella vita
An Italian inspired Global Wellness Summit featured fashion, food, fitness and spa… and cameos from Hugh Jackman and Oprah Winfrey. Spa Business gives its highlights
Research: Growing up
Spa is the fastest growing sector of the US$4.2tn global wellness economy according to the latest GWI research
Event report: WTA Conference
What do wellness travellers want? And what issues need to be addressed as the wellness tourism sector grows? Anne Dimon reports from the inaugural meeting of the Wellness Tourism Association
Fitness: Inhale the future
Ashley Neese tells Spa Business about the possibilities of breathwork and opening up the practice to more people
A recent survey by the UK Spa Association (UKSA) into the industry’s approach to cancer care
has revealed that almost half of participating respondents (46 per cent) are unaware that
cancer is a disability and guests with a cancer diagnosis must be given
Mexican operator, Solmar Hotels and Resorts, is hosting a series of events in celebration of
Global Wellness Day, including a Temazcal ceremony at its Playa Grande Resort and Spa in Los
Cabos.
Mandarin Oriental has announced a standalone residence brand, Mansions, which will debut at
Emirates Palace, Mandarin Oriental Mansions, Abu Dhabi, in 2029.
Four Seasons Resort The Nam Hai in Hoi An, Vietnam, has put together a Global Wellness Day
(GWD) agenda with activations rooted in nature and shaped by four pillars of Joy – in
alignment with the day’s theme #JoyMagenta.
The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the 2026 event in
Phuket, Thailand, later this year with the theme: The Science, Art and Soul of Wellness.
Auko, an all-inclusive development, is opening in Phong Nha in Vietnam in Q3 2026, with a
series of 30 tented eco-lodges and wellness hospitality operations by Lumina Wellbeing.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, has opened a 2,800sq m spa called The Sanctuary,
with the design and concept inspired by the Native American people that populated Florida’s
Southwest coast – the Calusa.
Le Atelier by C.O.D.E. doesn't offer a standard bespoke service, it provides a highly
customised approach to designing massage beds and loungers in high-end wellness
environments. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
marocMaroc Since its creation in 2007, MarocMaroc has invited the world to explore Moroccan beauty through a u [more...]
