TRC20: The Rug Company marks 20th Anniversary with Capsule Collection of Designer Rugs in 2017
To mark its 20th anniversary, The Rug Company launched a capsule collection of new handmade rugs by leading designers Paul Smith, Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Kelly Wearstler and Suzanne Sharp at London Design Festival 2017.
The TRC20 Collection celebrates the company’s heritage of combining exceptional craftsmanship with some of the most creative minds in the world. Each piece represents the quintessential vision and creativity of its designer, translated by skilled weavers into beautifully handknotted rugs that will last for generations.
Artists including Mary McCartney have been commissioned to photograph the designers and their creative spaces, transporting us into a world of imagination, inspiration and innovation. The rugs and photography were on show at an exhibition during LDF, 16 – 24 September 2017, which then toured The Rug Company’s showrooms worldwide.
This special anniversary collection is available exclusively from The Rug Company’s showrooms. Each piece is woven entirely by hand by craftsmen using the age-old weaving techniques and the finest natural yarns for which The Rug Company is renowned. The handmade rugs can also be custom ordered to suit a client’s specific requirements.
TRC20 CAPSULE COLLECTION
Chiaroscuro by Alexander McQueen
Limited edition of 40
A limited edition handwoven Aubusson, the Chiaroscuro rug captures the otherworldly yet timeless vision of Alexander McQueen in this dramatic floral design, which draws inspiration from Dutch floral paintings from the 17th century.
Practising ancient traditions of rug-making, each step of the craft is carried out by hand. The colour is expertly blended and then intricately woven by The Rug Company artisans to achieve almost photographic detail. Chiaroscuro refers to the juxtaposition of light and dark, which in this case lends the design an almost three-dimensional quality.
Bonavita by Suzanne Sharp
As co-founder of The Rug Company, Suzanne Sharp’s fearless and instinctive creative vision has earned her a reputation as a pioneer of rug design. The Bonavita rug encapsulates her talent at creating a thoroughly modern design from a traditional reference, playing with scale, direction and most of all colour. Inspired by tiles found in an old Maltese church, the pattern is reworked and edited in fresh blue and green into a contemporary classic. Diagonal lines are notoriously challenging to achieve in a handknotted rug, but are expertly woven to pleasing effect within this rug.
Highland by Vivienne Westwood
Vivienne Westwood has a long-standing association with Scotland and its traditional fabrics such as Harris Tweed, wool, plaid & tartan. The Highland rug features a special tartan originally designed for the iconic 2007 Gold Label collection – Wake up Cave Girl. For this specially crafted rug, Westwood subverts the traditional motif: magnifying the dimensions of the tartan, to give an oversized graphic feel to the traditional Scottish pattern. Expertly woven in muted royal blue and oyster cream bands, with gold and beetle red feature threads, the rug is handknotted with fine Tibetan wool.
Festival by Paul Smith
The Festival rug is instantly recognisable as the work of Sir Paul Smith. The classic stripe is given a contemporary twist with intersections and overlays, seamlessly flowing from one colour group to the next. The impactful and uplifting design confidently embraces colour, and will instantly transform any interior. The kaleidoscope of colours has been painstakingly and faithfully translated by The Rug Company’s weavers in Nepal to ensure that they work tonally; each single colour takes one day to create.
Channels Copper by Kelly Wearstler
Organic and abstract, the Channels design represents Kelly Wearstler’s interest in street art and expressive graphic design. The rug transforms hand-painted brushstrokes into vivid silk stripes on a Tibetan wool background. The intentionally casual edging of the lines captures the freehand nature of the artwork.
