Judged by an international panel, the Carpet Design Awards (CDAs) are recognised as the Oscars of the carpet and rug industry and awards have graced the world’s best makers, propelling them to new levels of fame and achievement.
And now FLOOR_STORY joins this exclusive club with the award of ‘Best Studio Artist Design’ for Giovanni, part of its John Booth x FLOOR_STORY collaboration. Hand-knotted from wool and bamboo viscose, Giovanni captures John Booth’s painterly colour layups, fill scribbles and graphic lines for a rug that John himself describes as “a true representation of my work”.
Now in their 15th year, the CDAs are held at Domotex, the international floorcoverings exhibition and present awards across eight categories, recognising outstanding design, quality and craftmanship. The jury, which is made up of internationally renowned retailers, academics, artists and designers, said of Giovanni, ‘fresh and true – an art rug that ticks every box’.
And for good reason, Giovanni is skilfully hand-knotted in Nepal to remain faithful to John’s original design, a stoneware vase. In an intensively collaborative process over several development sessions, John worked closely with FLOOR_STORY to hand-pick yarns and work through the translation of his original artwork. With FLOOR_STORY translating the original into a workable rug using bamboo viscose to add pops of lustre where necessary, the design stays as close as possible to the artist’s original design drawings.
Simon Goff, founder of FLOOR_STORY:
‘This is the big one for us and we’re absolutely thrilled to have got our hands on a CDA. We’ve been shortlisted before, but there’s nothing quite like the feeling of winning, particularly as the CDAs are the awards that everyone in the handmade rug industry wants. Our left field approach means we’ve trodden a route that’s less conventional and we’re happy with that, but it’s always good to be recognised for your efforts. We’re looking forward to using this as a launchpad to bigger things on a global stage.”
The ‘Best Studio Artist Design’ at the Carpet Design Awards comes on the back of another three awards in the last six months for the East London maker and retailer. Also presented at Domotex, FLOOR_STORY’s brand-new website secured a Carpet Star Award, organised by Germany’s Carpet! Magazine, for ‘Exemplary Webshop’. And at the Wool Carpet and Rug Awards, in association with British Wool, FLOOR_STORY picked up ‘Designer Collaboration of the Year’ for Wrong Angle with Sebastian Wrong and ‘Hand Knotted Rug’ for Marmalade by Carmellia Indrawati.