THE PERFECTION OF WOOL
100% wool, handknotted in India. Designed by CMI and Heather Maloney with Cape Advisors. Photo: Alan Tansey
October is wool month. This amazing fibre will be celebrated around the world for such a wide range of reasons. Has it occurred to you that among other things it is: natural, renewable, biodegradeable, insulating, breathable, resilient and elastic, multi-climatic and trans-seasonal, easy care, odour resistant and safe? It excels in everything from clothes to macramé to toys to surf boards to bedding to furnishing products. Surfboards aside, what fascinates us of course is wool’s endlessly perfect suitability for floor coverings. The vast majority of our area rugs are either 100% wool or wool with silk to bring out highlights in the design. Most of our fitted carpets are 100% wool, or 80% wool with 20% nylon.
100% wool, handtufted in Thailand. With Carvel & Helm.
As visual people, our love affair with wool begins with its aesthetic properties, but for interiors professionals there are a host of practical reasons why wool is the ultimate fibre.
FLAME RESISTANT
A perfect example is our rugs for the Deloitte tower in Montreal that received the LEED Platinum certification. When we were working with interior design firm Arney Fender Katsalids, the flame rating of the rugs was a non-negotiable. Because wool is naturally flame resistant, it does not require a chemical fire retardant treatment and therefore easily met the stringent requirements.
100% wool, handtufted in Thailand. With Arney Fender Katsalidis.
STAIN RESISTANT AND LIQUID REPELLENT
Designers and architects creating dining spaces are sometimes surprised to learn how wool floorcoverings can maintain their appearance in the face of frequent spills. The scales on the outside of the wool fibre and its natural oils mean food and drink would take time to penetrate the fibre, allowing time for easy cleanup.
100% wool handknotted in India. With Shelley Kirsch Interior Design and Decoration.
NOISE ABSORBING
According to the U.K.'s Campaign for Wool, sound absorption is one of the primary reasons wool carpet is used most often in aircrafts, casinos and hotels.
80% wool, 20% nylon, woven Axminster. With Celebrity Cruises.
WHERE DOES THE WOOL COME FROM?
Well it depends … on the requirements of the project, the characteristics of the design and the method of production. Our handtufted projects are nearly always made in Thailand using New Zealand wool. Our design collection rugs are usually handknotted in Nepal using the local Tibetan wool. "The lanolin in the high mountain sheep creates a special aspect in the wool that makes it unique. The spinning of this yarn has a variation in the denier which adds more personality. This variation is then further enhanced in dyeing as the dye takes differently to the yarn density. It is subtle, but so beautiful," said Carol Sebert, President & Founder of Creative Matters. Rugs we choose to produce in India may also use New Zealand wool, or speciality weaves may take advantage of the unique characteristics of Indian wool.
80% wool, 20% nylon, woven Axminster. With Diamond Schmitt Architects. Photo: Senate of Canada
WHAT’S NEW?
We are very excited to announce that we have recently teamed up with the Campaign for Wool - Canada, to produce - for the first time - rugs using 100% Canadian wool, sourced from New Brunswick’s historic Briggs & Little Mill. The Campaign’s CEO Matthew Rowe met Carol at the opening of our new showroom in September 2019 and the planning began. “The Campaign is a global endeavour initiated by its patron, HRH The Prince of Wales, in order to raise awareness amongst consumers about the unique, natural, renewable and biodegradable benefits offered by the fibre. With activities across 13 countries, we bring together major fashion designers, woolgrowers, retailers, manufacturers, artisans and interior designers to celebrate wool’s endless myriad of uses. 2020 is the Campaign’s global 10th anniversary and we are delighted to include Creative Matters in this October’s Canadian Wool Month celebrations.”
Matthew sourced the wool and arranged for it to be prepared at Canada’s oldest woollen mill Briggs & Little in New Brunswick.
The first Canadian wool rug will come off the loom in Nepal in November and shortly thereafter will be installed in a Toronto home. And then just a couple of weeks later, we will welcome three rugs created in collaboration with interior designer Sarah Richardson. “It started as a natural landscape vista, became a pretty photo, got reimagined with a little Adobe Illustrator and is on its way to becoming what I sure hope is going to be a really gorgeous runner for my collaboration with Campaign for Wool and Creative Matters,” said Sarah of one of the designs.
As we have a lot of experience working with wools from New Zealand and Tibet, we know how they will handle the dyes and the handknotting process. Because working with Canadian wool is new for us, we were delighted to see how the samples turned out and look forward to seeing the final rugs. We already have some encouraging news: “I asked the mill how they liked working with the Canadian wool and they replied they found it very soft and pleasant to handle and thought it good for carpet making because it is durable enough,” said Carol. Watch this space for updates and photos of these trailblazing projects.