PETER Hulin has seen a lot of skins pass through his upholstery workshop — but this latest job is a little different.
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Two real zebra hides have been dropped into his Koroit Street workshop — complete with ears and large enough to serve as an exotic rug.
“Some people from Zimbabwe came in and dropped off a couple of hides,” Mr Hulin said.
The veteran furniture-maker has crocodile skin and various other hides on his resumé.
His father even once worked with elephant skin.
“But I’ve never seen zebra skin before,” he said.
The owners haven’t yet decided what to do with the skins but they’re likely to be fashioned onto chairs.
“We’re going to put them on chairs but we haven’t sighted any yet,” he said.
“Some people might think it’s a bit strange but I guess we use cow skins.”
The hide itself will be a difficult material to work with.
“But that’s the beauty of the job, no two jobs are the same,” Mr Hulin said.