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
The MSpa Oslo series is a perennial bestseller in global markets. With innovative
engineering and premium performance, this completely portable spa line-up is expertly
designed to meet the needs of customers worldwide. [more...]
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
Synergy – The Retreat Show, the global trade show for retreats, has launched a global research
initiative that will provide insights into the retreat sector from both consumer and industry
perspectives.
The Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) has published a non-regulatory global industry
framework designed to ensure the retreat market offers responsible experiences.
A new survey of UK and international spa practitioners shows that stress, burnout and
wellbeing concerns have caused one in three respondents to consider leaving the industry.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Anna Bjurstam has left her role as Wellness Pioneer at Six Senses Hotels and Resorts and
launched a new wellness, longevity and “consciousness consultancy” called Wahayla.
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has opened today (10 July) in the Northwest of England
with a
1,715sq m Fairmont Spa that has been designed using a ‘Wellness without Walls’
concept.
Wellness hotels generating less than US$1 million (€932,700, £785,200) – or 10 per cent of
total revenue from wellness and leisure – recorded the strongest RevPAR and TRevPAR growth
in 2025 across categories when compared with 2024, according to the latest Wellness Real
Estate Report by RLA Global, produced in partnership with P and L benchmarking firm HotStats.
Lefay Resorts, the portfolio of two luxury wellness properties in Italy, has added emotional
dance classes and group cold plunge sessions in response to market demand for social
connection.
The MSpa Oslo series is a perennial bestseller in global markets. With innovative
engineering and premium performance, this completely portable spa line-up is expertly
designed to meet the needs of customers worldwide. [more...]
