Textures Atelier

Manhattan-based Textures Atelier may be a recently launched company, but its founder/creative director, Paula Lajaunie- Viscogliosi, is no newcomer to the rug business. She has a quarter of a century of experience in the industry and a global clientele. Her latest adventure, the boutique rug project, Textures Atelier, offers hand woven custom rugs and the same bespoke design service for which she is known. She also brings to the project a longtime commitment to justice for the rug artisans. Of her membership in GoodWeave®, she says she still stands with the weavers as she did years ago as a member of GoodWeave’s earlier incarnation as Rugmark,  “It’s critical that we give back to the communities where rugs are made and critical that we safeguard there is no child labor.” she says, “I couldn’t do it any other way.”

Paula’s passion for rugs and weaving goes back even farther than her years designing and selling rugs in Soho. As she tells it, as a small child she was enamored of textiles. She learned to crochet, knit and even, at age eight, asked her surprised parents to buy her a loom. That attraction for textile and color followed her through studies in art history and throughout a career as a modern dancer. But it was a 1991 trip to Paris and one particular magnificent rug in the window of the iconic Galerie Diurne that forever changed her life, she says. She bought the rug, went home and opened a gallery in Soho. It was a Eureka moment that kicked off what would be a twenty-five year career in the rug industry.

After a decade-long family-centered hiatus, Paula is reinventing herself yet again. She has returned to designing luxurious, one-of-a-kind, site specific pieces inspired by nature, architecture and, of course, art. Past projects include a series called “Gateways” based on the gate work of Manhattan doors. Other pieces reflect her love of travel. She points to one particularly close to her heart, “Roma”, a colorful wool and silk piece born out of a romantic Italian trip with her husband. Her “Paris” collection, both sophisticated and romantic, she says took inspiration from the city of light and motifs on a Hermès scarf. A major source of Paula’s inspiration is from the natural world such as in “Moss”. “Pebbles” and the cut silk and looped wool “Beach” series. “This one you really have a sense of the ripples of the sand”, she says with obvious pleasure.

Her passion for rugs is palpable. “A carpet is simply the soul of a room, It’s a source of beauty, comfort and love.” Paula is delighted that her, clients, the universities, art galleries and high net worth individuals that span the globe, share her love of fine rugs. Finally, however, the audience just as important to her is the individual artisan whose hands create the rug. “I couldn’t imagine, honestly, being in this industry without being a member of GoodWeave.”

Learn more: http://www.texturesdesignconcepts.com/