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INTERIOR DESIGN
October 2003 |
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ARCHITECTURAL
DIGEST
DIE SCHÖNSTEN HÄUSER DER WELT - 7/8 2003 |
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Hali
May-June
2003
by Lisette Mallary
“The
Art of Carpet Making” The story of
Asha Carpets, founded in 2000 by
Joanna Michalowicz, is a cautionary
tale. In a contemporary carpet
business increasingly dominated by a
few big names, her struggle to gain
a foothold in this complex, capital
intensive business reminds Lisette
Mallary that talent and creative
energy, however prodigious, are not
always enough. |
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To
understand the story of Asha Carpets, one
must appreciate how the modern carpet
industry is structured. Today there are
three types of producers: the first
consists of the established firms
capitalizing on current tends by adding
contemporary carpets to their reproduction
business; the second includes high-end
antique decorative dealers who offer their
more design-forward clients cheaper 'antique-inspired'
or contemporary rugs, often designed by
their decorator clientele; the third group,
into which Asha falls, comprises artists,
graphic designers and architects who
choose to translate their aesthetic
visions into a textile medium For them,
the challenge lies in building a viable
business around what are often beautiful,
sometimes idiosyncratic, and usually
relatively expensive carpets.
Joanna Michalowicz trained as a weaver in
her native Poland, learning restoration at
Cracow's National Museum. She emigrated to
New York City aged 19, and graduated with
a degree in sculpture and painting from
Parsons School of Design. At the same time,
she worked for F.J. Hakimian on 57th
Street, where she ran the restoration
department. After thirteen years with 'Joe',
who she describes as her mentor and a
superb businessman, she left to pursue her
design career.
In addition to creating designs for
various firms, she also worked for the New
York company French Accents, training
weavers and teaching restoration in
Guangdong Province, China. Then a local
factory owner challenged her to design
pile carpets and teach pile weaving to the
workers who had previously only made
tapestr1es and 'aubussons'.
Finding this challenge intriguing, she
incorporated in 2000, and spent the next
eight months in China, searching for the
right foundation, wool and knotting skills
- starting a pile-weaving operation in
this part of China from scratch. This
opportunity allowed her to explore the use
of differing types of wools. knot
densities, and pile- and flat weaving
techniques. These experiments, some of
which she says were "happy mistakes",
led to several Asha collections employing
a various innovative combinations of
techniques and wools.
Michalowicz currently designs and produces
pile carpets, as well as developing highly
successful designs for Jan Kath of Germany
and several US producers But, in terms of
gaining buyer acceptance for her Chinese
carpets, she is frustrated by market
preference
for the shiny, longer and looser pile of
Nepalese carpets. In an exasperated tone
she says, "My carpets will be shiny
too, one day. You just need to walk on
them!" Her most marketable products,
Michalowicz reluctantly concedes, are her
flat weaves Their unique textural and
visual richness is created by using
various weaving techniques, as well as
machine- and hand-spun wool: to date, her
Coral kilim (left) is the most consistent
seller. She has also designed several
Wiener Werkstatte-based carpets including
her spectacular Poppies 'aubusson' (pile
version below). As her floral motifs have
gained critical acclaim, she plans to
explore further East European design
traditions, both folkloric and modernist,
in future collections.
Michalowicz and her peers are often lauded
for their creativity and attention to
quality. Yet, as she has found, she lacks
the resources to market her carpets
effectively.
Without the big producers' sales and
marketing staff, or the brand-recognition
of successful antique carpet dealers, she
finds herself relying on friends to help
her.
Joanna Michalowicz is undoubtedly one of
the most original and talented
contemporary carpet designers. Yet she
struggles to continue. Given her talent,
her dedication to weaving and her lovely
carpets, one hopes that Asha will survive
the vagaries of a mercurial marketplace.
She perseveres, waiting for her latest
rugs, waiting for just the right buyers to
discover her carpets. "Just wait
until you see my latest flat weave from
China. It's so beautiful!" |
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The
Oprah Magazine
April 2003 |
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Hali
March-April 2003
HANOVER, 11-14 JANUARY 2003 Unveiling their latest cteations at Domotex, high-end producers need the PR skills ofa film star enthusing about a newly released film. In both cases their products have been in development for at least a year, but must be shown to the public as fresh and current.
And in rugs no less than in cinema, the best producers are already thinking and working on next year's ideas, while talking about this year's. |
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It may seem that the similarities end there, but it is worth noting that both industties are subject to the capriciousness of the public, and that the success of a new release may owe less to inttinsic quality than to fa.shion and global economic
confidence. Visitor
and exhibitor numbers were very slightly down
at Domotex this year, but in the end the numbers
to watch are those found on the sales register,
and these tell us that the pre-fair caution of
many exhibitors was partially confounded.
The organisers take innovation as seriously as producers. Their commitment was clear in this year's 'floorforum in Hall 3, where the high specification stands Of28 top European manufacturers vied for attention with a cafe/lecture theatte and exhibition booths showing carpets in new and unusual contexts. All this was aimed at promoting carpets as an exciting and innovative part ofany interior design project, and included the Germanbased N epalese producers Jan Kath, Modern Roots (Barbara Burkhardt) and Makalu Design (formerly Designteppich Ganzert), as well as London's Tibetan Carpet Centte These German companies can be relied upon to unveil interesting carpets each year.
Kath also showed his Asha range, designed by Joanna Michalowicz, with 'organic' forms and shapes I found particularly appealing. |
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For more info : ASHA CARPETS, 94-98 Nassau Avenue # 360,
Brooklyn, NY 11222
Tel (914) 645-1262, e-mail:
ashacarpets
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