Jaipur Rugs: India’s Carpet Innovator
Jaipur Rugs, known for providing sustainable livelihood for underprivileged communities, presented its award-winning rug collections at IMM Cologne fair.
Even as one of Indian’s leading manufacturers, Jaipur Rugs doesn’t compromise its mandate for social innovation in business – providing sustainable livelihood to 40.000 artisans across 600 villages. Tapping into the bespoke yet skilled craftsmanship each locale offers, the company looks to produce high quality-cum-distinctive products in a world of increased homogenization. Nature-inspired motifs are achieved with a wide range of techniques, creating floor art; peaceful environments reminiscent of bucolic landscapes.
Jaipur Rugs was established in 1978, when NK Chaudhary borrowed 100 dollars from his father, bought a bike and two looms, invited nine weavers to work in his backyard and began producing two rug variations. Since then, the company has grown out of the Gujarat region into an international brand. Jaipur Rugs prides itself on the core strength of vertical integration centred around raw material producers, designers, manufacturers, wholesalers and the training of craftspeople.
Following in the family business, chief designer Kavita Chaudhardy heads a team of 50 trend watchers, researchers, patternalists and colourists – some of which are the daughters and sons of longtime Jaipur Rugs weavers. New technologies that ameliorate strength and offer new weaving techniques are constantly explored. Raw material is also often sourced in New Zealand and Turkey but mainly in India. With all players involved, Jaipur Rugs follows a clear production lifecycle: raw material selection, hand spinning, dyeing, opening, weaving and finishing, before bringing a new design to market. •
Jaipur Rugs featured award-winning carpets from its Project Error and Chaos Theory collections at imm Cologne fair in January 2016. Thousands of artisans spread across hundreds of villages in India use ancient techniques to create contemporary rugs. Jaipur Rugs also released its Jaipur Stock Catalog at the fair. The catalogue is a pictorial walkthrough of the villages where the company’s one-of-a-kind rugs are crafted.
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Jaipur Rugs: Project Error Rug Collection. Shay rug.
The article was originally published in TLmag 23, All that Jazz issue in June 2015.
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