Surface Magazine - Rugs and kisses
Fate, fashion and an appreciation for Eastern traditions are all woven into the handmade rugs of Suzanne Sharp and Christopher Sharp
As the saying goes, you make your own luck in life. Suzanne and Christopher Sharp are are a case in point, although fate and hard work have both had a hand in their good fortune. The co-founders of The Rug Company, the leading name in handcrafted, contemporary and traditional rugs, enjoyed the sort of meeting that lovelorn commuters dream of: they spotted each other on the London Underground.
After a courtship conducted both on and off public transport, the two married in 1983. They worked, for a time in the London advertising industry – he as a video editor and she with a production company – but fate dealt them a different hand when Christopher was asked by some clients to help set up a post-production company in Saudi Arabia. An adventurous pair, they agreed, travelling widely and spending long periods of time in Riyadh, where they would often visit the local markets. “There were all these Afghan and Pakistani rug traders there. We’d go maybe three times a week, and sit with these guys and talk to them,” explains Christopher. A burgeoning passion for and understanding of the rug business, which Christopher compares to the gradual development of an appreciation for fine art, armed them with the confidence to set up The Rug Company in 1997 back in London’s Notting Hill. The area is still both business headquarters and home base to the Sharps and their four children.
Was there a company philosophy from the outset? “Honesty and transparency.” Christopher replies. “Saying, ‘this is the product, this is the correct price, you can take it, try it, bring it back.’ Basically applying normal retail philosophies to the rug business, which was kind of unheard of at the time.” The Sharps were also adamant that the business should be ethically sound, refusing to accept forced or child labour. “You have to constantly be on top of it,” observes Christopher, “remind suppliers of what’s expected of them and make sure that the right people are paid for their work.” Besides securing proper conditions for workers, the Sharps have the added satisfaction of helping to sustain an art form essential to the local economies of deprived countries.
Initially dealing with old rugs and copies of antiques, they quickly realised The Rug Company needed a contemporary twist. A collection designed by Suzanne, who trained as a decorative painter, provided a slight boost in sales, but business really took off when they started collaborating with other designers. Interiors specialists such as Nicky Haslam, Nina Campbell and Cath Kidston were amongst the first. “The thing that really separated us from everyone else was realising that you need to look forwards rather than backwards,” Christopher says. Collaborations with fashion designers followed, and now The Rug Company boasts a designer collection from some of the worlds finest, including Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith, Matthew Williamson and Diane von Furstenberg.
“We show them all the different types of knots and materials, wools and silks, pile heights and flat weaves and needle pointing and beading…then they go away and come up with some ideas,” says Christopher, detailing the production process. “Paul Smith, for instance, always comes back with tons of material, then we narrow it down, decide which ideas will work best and start sampling until everyone’s happy. We’re doing a rug at the moment with Ron Arad, and we’re still sampling and sampling. He’s a perfectionist.”
All the rugs are handmade, with the bulk of production in Nepal, plus some in India, Turkey and China. A Nepalese rug takes, on average, around four months to complete using lustrous, oily, Tibetan wool. Hand-crafted into long fibres ready for spinning, the finished yarn is then dyed and the rugs knotted by hand. After a good wash they are then stretched out in the sun to dry. By nature it’s a drawn-out process, requiring a constant focus on preserving quality. This is reflected in the price: expect to shell out around $3,500 for a nine-by-six-foot piece. As Christopher points out, “It’s very difficult to make a good, cheap rug. You end up with a very flat, lifeless product.”
The clean, white interior of their London shop now houses over 200 designs, woven and stitched in silk, wool, mohair and hide. It’d very difficult to keep your hands to yourself amongst the long, shaggy piles, luxuriant silks and needlepoint flat waves that come in countless colours and patterns, from bright Smarties and dusky roses to swirls, circles and animal hides. Should you be feeling patriotic, there’s even a star-spangled banner (albeit one that belongs on the floor). Says Suzanne, who designs around six rugs per year, alongside in-house designer, Sam Turner, “My style is ever changing, as my taste changes all the time. The one constant is that I love dramatic contrast. I also love classical designs.” One visit to The Rug Company emporium and the empty floors in your home begin to look most unsatisfactory.
Around 30 – 40 percent of their rugs are made to order, often in collaboration with interior designers, although weird and wonderful requests from the general public include portraits and reproductions of children’s drawings. Currently they are producing a range of enormous rugs for a contemporary castle in Scotland, but they’ve also carpeted clubs hotels and yachts. Clients are invited to take rugs home and live with them for a few days to ensure that they’re buying the right one. “As a system it works really well. Rugs are pretty tough, and you can usually clean them, so even when people do have disasters, nothing’s ever irretrievable,” smiles Christopher.
Such is the demand for The Rug Company’s accommodating service and range of products, including wall hangings and tapestries, that in 2002 The Rug Company opened an office in New York City’s SoHo. Franchises now span from Moscow to Oslo, and with clients ranging from Gwyneth Paltrow to James Gandolfini and Ali G, it would be fair to say the appeal of The Rug Company is far and wide. The good news is that another shop is opening in Los Angeles this September: The rug Company is coming West…rug addicts, prepare to be seduced.
Words by Paula Carson
