Pink House by Rebecca Cole collection is championing the traditions of Aso-oke hand weaving in the Yoruba region of Nigeria to the Interior Design Industry. The influx of cheap, imported textiles and mass-produced European style clothing has drastically diminished the artisan weaving industry in Nigeria leaving fewer weaving communities able to make a living from their craft.

By taking an innovative approach to using the beautiful striped and patterned woven strips, as a form of passementerie for interior design, textile designer Rebecca Cole has identified a way to support the traditions of weaving that she first encountered in the 1990’s.

Whilst on an introductory visit to her husband’s family in Nigeria “I fell in love with not only the magic of Nigeria but also the sense of heritage and family contained in the textiles that had been created and safeguarded by my mother-in-law from every family event. There is family history attached to each piece of As0-oke she has kept.”

The traditions of Yoruba weaving date back to the 10th and 12th Century in Nigeria. The Aso-oke cloth is traditionally woven by men in the Southwestern region of Nigeria on horizontal looms. As early as the 17th Century, Aso-oke cloth was recorded as a valuable trading commodity with the British. Continue reading →

Rise & Woll is a multi-award winning design studio, offering innovative woven solutions to the interior and textile industries. Founded by Rosie Moorman and Will Evans, the duo are internationally renowned for their contemporary weaving practise and bold use of colour.

Rise & Woll aims to provide a fresh approach to surface and constructed textile design, combining the founders’ respective backgrounds in weaving, graphic and product design, experience in industry, and innate design knowledge to provide contemporary textile designs that honour the heritage of the weaving industry.

With clients ranging from specialist yarn spinners, to interior designers, to lingerie manufacturers, Rise & Woll offers a holistic approach to brief-led design.

The studio offers two in-house collections per year, available on a Sale by Design basis, with each design sold inclusive of transfer of rights and technical specification for production. Alongside this, the studio also operates on a consultancy basis, creating bespoke ranges for their clients, and short run production on the in-house handlooms.

Based in West Yorkshire, the studio is in prime location for manufacture, and work with local commission weavers to offer a seamless transition to UK based production as required. Further-afield, the studio has contacts with manufacturing plants across Europe and the far East. Continue reading →

Established weaver Jacqueline James specialises in making hand woven, custom dyed rugs and wall hangings for public and private collections.  Harmonious colour combinations and striking patterns are both strong and distinctive elements of her woven designs.

Each piece is exclusive and custom made in her York studio using a large Glimakra countermarche floor loom.

Durable and natural wool or cotton weft and linen warp are used to create rugs which are colourful, contemporary and functional.

She applies a variety of traditional, flat weave, weft-face weaving techniques, including shaft switching invented by Master Weaver Peter Collingwood OBE.

Her recent collection features several rugs made with hand dyed cotton weft yarns that are ‘painted’ with permanent dye before the weaving process to create interesting, yet unpredictable, unrepeatable colour and design effects. Continue reading →

Objects of Matter is a textile design studio based in Milan, specialising in the production of bespoke, luxury woven fabrics using the finest quality yarns. Each unique design is conceived and executed in collaboration with their clients. Their team works closely with their clients to develop emotional stories that suit the direction and environment of each individual project and they develop all their textiles in-house during the design and development stages. Presently they work closely with the finest Italian mills to deliver manufactured collections.

They cherish the value of fabric and aims to make everyday interactions with it precious and beautiful. They feel often fabric is overlooked as a medium of its own or seen simply as an enhancing component of a garment or a product. In this regard, their specialist work aims to both respect the history and cultural value of textiles, whilst also pushing the boundaries of their creative development. They do their work to celebrate the abilities of textile designers, their willingness and their endeavour, by shaping creativity into meaningful fabric collections that are exclusive to each project.

Object of Matters diversity comes from experience working across multiple industries. As such, they aim to enrich the treatment of textiles in all environments so as to illicit positive experiences from as many people as possible. To date they have worked within the fashion industry, with automotive brands and product designers. They aim to  continue working across a range of different disciplines to both enrich the lives of their clients and to advance their depth of knowledge.

Continue reading →