Corinthian leather is a term coined by the advertising agency Bozell to describe the upholstery used in certain Chrysler luxury vehicles. The term first appeared in advertising in 1974. Although the term suggests that the product has a relationship to or origination from Corinth, there is no relationship; the term is a marketing concept.
The term was first used during the marketing campaign for the 1974 Imperial LeBaron, but the term is usually associated with the marketing campaign for the 1975 Cordoba and that campaign's celebrity spokesperson, Ricardo Montalban, who described "the thickly-cushioned luxury of seats available even in soft Corinthian leather."
Despite the exotic origin suggested by the name "Corinthian leather", much of the leather used in Chrysler vehicles during the era originated from a supplier located outside Newark, New Jersey.
Some sources say the term refers to the combination of leather seating surfaces and vinyl seat sides, while other sources say the term simply referred to the leather itself.
Read more about Corinthian Leather: Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words corinthian and/or leather:
“He prayed more deeply for simple selflessness than he had ever prayed before—and, feeling an uprush of grace in the very intention, shed the night in his heart and called it light. And walking out of the little church he felt confirmed in not only the worth of his whispered prayer but in the realization, as well, that Christ had become man and not some bell-shaped Corinthian column with volutes for veins and a mandala of stone foliage for a heart.”
—Alexander Theroux (b. 1940)
“I was the horse and the rider,
and the leather I slapped to his rump
spanked my own behind.”
—May Swenson (1919–1995)