COLLECTIVE SOUL

NEPHELE Designed in collaboration with Hong Kong interior design firm AB Concept for Tai Ping, Nephele is a capsule collection of four couture carpets inspired by various views from a plane of the earth below. The Polis I rug (pictured above) evokes an illuminated city with its thread of gold woven through white or dark blue, while Boreas I calls to mind the icebergs of Antarctica with its nuances of white. ON THE FRINGE Launched in November, House of Tai Ping’s newest collection is under American brand Edward Fields, which it purchased in 2004. As its name suggests, the On The Fringe collection is all about fringes in asymmetrical, mixed-and-matched layers on the same piece. These rugs even work as quirky statement wall hangings. KISO Taking inspiration from the Japanese philosophy of wabi sabi (the appreciation of the beauty in imperfection and transience), traditional textiles and elements of the natural world, Kiso is a triptych design of water, wind and earth. The abstract, thought-provoking designs were created in collaboration with Toronto designers George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg of Yabu Pushelberg; the Kawa III carpet won the Design Picks Award at this year’s Design Shanghai fair.