- Art & Design
Rilievo is the first in-house designed rug collection from global curators Tigmi Trading. The 5-piece collection is inspired by the hard-edged beauty of brutalist architecture of Carlo Scarpa. Danielle McEwan, founder and creative director of Tigmi Trading, explains what you can expect from the collection.
Where did the idea for a rug collection come from?
‘I always had this vision that one day we would create our own range of rugs. It’s a coalescence of ideas that carried through time. I wanted to ensure that we presented a collection indicative of our commitment to quality and artisanship, but that also captured the essence of our brand in the visual language of our designs.’
In the collection, you can find a lot of balances. Why is that?
‘I have a deep connection with architectural detail. More specifically, with the way brutalist forms can balance the harshness and strength of materiality with the intricate detail of the design. That’s why we use a repetitive pattern. We also play with proportion and light and combine linen and wool.’ 
'Rilievo captures the essence of our brand and our commitment to quality and artisanship’
Why the choice of a natural colour palette?
‘We wanted to design a collection that would be timeless, and something we would like to have in our own home. The Tigmi palette was a convivial way to make the collection resonate with our community.’ 
What is your aim as a conscious interior brand?
‘It is imperative for us that quality and transparency are at the forefront of every process in the making of this collection. We chose to work closely with family-based weavers in Nepal. It was very important for us that our collections were GoodWeave certified. GoodWeave is a non-profit organization that wants to end child labour in the rug industry. We carefully selected the finest natural fibres that imbued quality in our designs. We aim to keep pushing ourselves and customers to buy consciously, aesthetically, socially and ethically made design. We don’t believe that you need to sacrifice one for the other.’ 
Images courtesy of Tigmi Trading