Judy Amic-Angelo is a master material designer whose work spans decades and industries. From the luxury interiors of automobiles to sustainable innovations in recycled textiles, her work can be found in the most global and unexpected places simultaneously.  

 

Now, through her Illuminare Studio, represented by PSMADE, Judy brings her rarest work forward from her atelier in upstate New York: custom gaufrage from wool sheep, using proprietary, low-waste techniques that transform overlooked materials into supple, designer-driven high-end leathers previously unimaginable.

 

Her work sits at the edge of invention and preservation—an homage to the artisans who came before and a blueprint for sustainable luxury.

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Amic-Angelo’s career began with a 16-year stint leading a commercial interiors firm, designing headquarters, flagship retail, restaurants, and office buildings with both space planning expertise and a deep sensitivity to materials. It wasn’t long before her eye for Color, Material, and Finish (CMF) led her to automotive design, where she collaborated with Acura, Kia, Hyundai, BMW and more— at the concept and production stages.

Her concept work for the Porsche Speedster and engineering contributions to the materials used in concept automotive interiors speak to a rare gift: Judy not only understands how a material looks. She understands how it feels, performs, and endures.

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As her work continues to resonate in mass markets, Amic-Angelo has developed an atelier in upstate New York that specializes in all custom leathers… and gaufrage. From her sourcing to interdisciplinary methods to design multiplicity - she is creating irreplicable nuance with this custom work - a heritage method that balances ingress and egress to create visual and tactile textures that move beyond embossing, and into a whole new realm of dimension.

When everything is possible, it is overwhelming… or the answer to a dream: Wall panels & floor tiles. Seating & sidetables. Headboards & dining table apron trim. Illuminare’s capacities are infinite, methods cutting edge and heritage simultaneously, and implementation beyond exceptional. We recently donned a banister in gaufrage, the feel of leather as we ascend into a space… a remarkable (literal) touch that shifts the experience of the space.

The resulting surfaces are both formal and fantastical, with floral, geometric, paisley, or deco motifs that shimmer under hand-rubbed sheens. It’s work that, in Judy’s words, "takes artists."

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Amic-Angelo's gaufrage features hides from wool sheep; ethically sourced, and drawn from the discard stream. The leather is supple, dyed in small-batch vats, and hand finished, turning  into materials that rival the finest decorative arts. 

“We don’t do exotics or young leathers. Just ethically sourced wool sheep leather: a valuable second industry material that is often overlooked, yet filled with potential for heritage artisan-driven methods."

She doesn’t aim to compete with larger leather furnishers. Instead, she offers custom, low-quantity, and high-integrity experiences of design with a conscience. Each piece is specialized and made to order, recalling tradition and impressing with tradition's next iteration… a beautiful fit for PSMADE's represented lines: past and future in perfect presence.

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