MACRAME - THE LATEST AND MOST TEXTURAL RUG COLLECTION

Creative Matters’ Abode design celebrates texture and colours of undyed wool.

Macrame is Creative Matters’ 14th rug collection and it’s an extra special one. Extra special because texture plays a much bigger role in the designs than it has in previous collections. To achieve the desired richness of texture the designers looked to skillfully combine an extravagant variety of weaving techniques. For example, Abode (pictured above) uses five different woven textures: shaggy cut pile, 4mm cut pile, chunky loop pile, kapli weave and flatweave.

With names such as Abode, Solace and Haven, it’s no surprise that the designs (there are nine of them in the collection) fulfill a yearning for textural comfort, a desire to be cosy at home. Leah Phillips, Director of Art and Wallcovering Division, was one of the design team over the two years it has taken to bring the collection to fruition. “It was inspired by the aesthetic of macrame. My favourite rug is Retreat, a design that captures the feeling of a 1960s wallhanging in a fun, oversized scale and combines a beautiful range of techniques. It would instantly bring a comforting feel to any space.”

The Retreat design is available in the Earth colourway (shown here) and in an Ivory colourway.

“Because the Macrame designs combine so many different techniques, we worked with our mill in India that specializes in the full range of construction styles we needed to produce the rugs,” said Leah. “This is the first collection that has been handwoven in India although we have been working with the mill for many years on custom projects that include these techniques. Another first for this collection is our extensive use of undyed wools. For example Retreat in the Ivory colourway is made only of natural wools while other designs use both undyed and dyed wools.

Retreat in the Ivory colourway uses only natural colours of wool.

“When I started work on this collection, we had a gorgeous selection of undyed yarns in the studio and I was intrigued by the idea of allowing the natural beauty of the wool to guide the design process,” said Leah. “It creates versatility and timelessness in colour and can be paired easily with a lot of interior furnishings.”

The Solace design celebrates simplicity and curves.

When dyed wools are used in a Macrame design, they are still accompanied by several colours of undyed wool. For example Solace’s brilliant dyed ochre is perfectly complemented with four colours expressing the comfort of natural wool. Although “home” is a consistent theme in this collection, the rugs are also appropriate for other settings - Hemma and Solace will soon be ready for a luxury hotel in Vancouver. For that project we used a lower pile height to make them more suitable for hospitality.

Hemma is one of two designs selected for a luxury hotel.

Senior Designer Kayla Bortolotto said she was often reminded of the Danish word hygge as she worked on the designs. “The word brings meaning to the style of the collection - a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment.” And she added the natural wool is an appealing contrast to screen time.

Creative Matters’ Settle design being sheared by an artisan at the mill in India.

We hope that as you browse more photos of the rugs, you will enjoy their natural artisanal character, their free-form contours, their inviting shapes and their playful lines that all read chic yet down-to-earth.