Uniting heritage textile craftsmanship with a contemporary design vision, Christopher Farr is renowned for their dedication to quality and pursuit of beauty. Producing handmade custom rugs for leading international interior designers and architects, each one is made to order to the exacting requirements of each project.
Founded over thirty years ago, they have always set out to restore rug making to the status of fine art. Christopher Farr rugs are now a frequent sight at global art and design exhibitions, and in the homes of collectors worldwide.
In 1988, the artist and designer Christopher Farr founded his eponymous company with business partner Matthew Bourne buying and selling antique oriental rugs whilst also showcasing Christopher’s early rug designs. A breakthrough exhibition at the Royal College of Art in 1991, showing rugs designs of the textile students, led to a new direction in producing contemporary rugs and the company rapidly earned a reputation for uniting heritage textile craftsmanship with bold contemporary design. In the decades since Christopher Farr’s dedication to quality and uncompromising pursuit of beauty has helped revolutionise rug design.
Christopher Farr has worked with creatives as diverse as L.A.’s Commune, Japan’s Makoto Kagoshima, Ai Weiwei, Peter Doig, the UK’s Gary Hume, Gavin Turk, John Pawson and the estates or archives of the Albers Foundation, Omega Workshop, Marian Pepler and Gunta Stölzl.
The company has always been determined to both preserve historic craft traditions and to support the communities that rely on them. Working closely and astutely with non-profit organisations such as Label Step, Care & Fair and Turquoise Mountain, it is their mission to champion the welfare of rug makers and their families and to implement ethical practices and fair-trade principles. Every stage of the production process is independently audited. In addition, Christopher Farr provides direct financial support to the Haji Saheb Ali School in Khanapur in northern India.
Rugs & Carpets
"Marrying the craft tradition of rug making with the creative breadth of contemporary art has been the overarching mission of Christopher Farr since its inception. Over three decades, we have collaborated with a roster of globally renowned artists and emerging talents to realise their visions on the loom – beautiful artworks taking shape in the interplay of threads. With in-depth knowledge of the specialist rug making skills of each region and their established networks, Christopher Farr works with designers to produce handmade custom rugs to best suit their project, whether a private residential or commercial project. "
"Of all the decorative features of a room, it’s often the rug that makes the strongest statement and ties together the overall design. A one-of-a-kind rug, made with high-quality materials, can become the soul of a space for generations – a highly personal aesthetic expression. Christopher Farr specialises in individual rugs, designed in close collaboration with their clients. Everything is made to order, therefore existing designs can be modified from our extensive portfolio to almost any colour, size or shape; or to develop a new bespoke design specifically to fit the intended space.
It begins with the fibre - wools, silks or plant-based fibres such as jute, hemp, cotton and linen. This is hand-spun into yarn, then dyed, by hand, in small batches before it reaches the loom. Once the ideal textural finish to suit the artist’s design has been identified, the weavers knot or weave the yarn through a stretched mesh of warp threads, giving form to the rug and life to its design. Once trimmed, finished, washed, and dried, the rug is complete – the final chapter in an age-old story of craftsmanship and collaboration.
Christopher Farr has developed expert knowledge and well-established networks, carefully and responsibly sourcing partners who use natural fibres to craft rugs for utmost effect. Much of a rug’s beauty and tactility is down to the materials from which it is made and at Christopher Farr they source the finest wools from Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, a naturally sustainable material and durable by its very nature. Introducing silk to a design will add softness, create a textural sheen or can be used to create highlighted accents. And finally, the finest quality jutes and other natural fibres, that continually push material possibilities in new aesthetic directions.
Whether customised from an existing design or crafted entirely bespoke, all Christopher Farr rugs are made to order, by hand, by a trusted group of skilled artisans. No time saved, no shortcuts taken, no corners cut."
