DECO HOME
Special Textile Living
To this day, precious rugs are hand-knotted and hand-woven by La Manufacture Cogolin
A floral motif on a raspberry-coloured base once embellished Nelson A. Rockefellers’ apartment in Central Park, New York. The design originally created by French artist Christian Bérard, was converted by La Manufacture Cogolin to become a rug. The brand built up a worldwide reputation with its famous floral and geometrical patterns in high- and bas-relief. The manufacture’s founder, textile engineer Jean Lauer, created the company in 1924. For health reasons he had moved to the South of France, where he bought a company specialized in silkworms production and expanded the production to hand-knotted and hand-woven carpets. He had converted jacquard looms to rug manufacturing, the looms being originally meant to serve the fabrication of silk. Seventeen of the looms are still in operation at La Manufacture Cogolin today. Jean Lauer cleverly transferred knotted patterns of traditional Mediterranean designs to three-dimensional weaving patterns. In-between cut and loop piles, the basic fabric remains visible as a pattern-element. For custom orders, the width is 70 cm and the pieces are seamed together by hand. But antique technique does not necessarily produce antiquated design: modern designs and concepts by contemporary artists can be made with hand-knotted and hand-weaving techniques.