{"id":195668,"date":"2022-04-18T12:07:24","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T16:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_news&p=195668"},"modified":"2022-11-14T12:27:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-14T17:27:51","slug":"egyptian-rug-company-kahhal-1871-celebrates-150-years-with-bold-new-designs-from-local-creatives","status":"publish","type":"id_news","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/designwire\/egyptian-rug-company-kahhal-1871-celebrates-150-years-with-bold-new-designs-from-local-creatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Egyptian Rug Company Kahhal 1871 Celebrates 150 Years with Bold New Designs from Local Creatives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Cherif
Cherif Morsi\u2019s contemporary rug design. Photography by Scoop Empire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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April 18, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Georgina McWhirter<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Egyptian Rug Company Kahhal 1871 Celebrates 150 Years with Bold New Designs from Local Creatives<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary designs from 14 Egyptian creatives, from fashion designers and artists to interior designers and architects, mark a new collection from heritage rug company Kahhal 1871. For 150 years the family-owned Egyptian manufacturer has made luxury custom rugs\u2014all deeply traditional in both aesthetic and craft. Now, under the auspices of its youthful fifth-generation managing director Mohammad El Kahhal, Kahhal 1871 debuts a series of natural fiber rugs in contemporary patterns designed by local creatives and hand-loomed by the manufacturer\u2019s artisans. Figuring out how to craft the eclectic pieces\u2014with organic shapes, wild tufting, and unusual fringing\u2014was no easy feat. But the outcome is undeniable, with the results on show this spring at an exhibition dubbed \u201cOutloud\u201d in downtown Cairo.\u00a0Interior Design<\/em> was there to celebrate and here are seven highlights from the exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Award-winning architect Ahmad Fayyad\u2019s minimalist NOT rug is\u2014like most of Fayyad\u2019s work\u2014inspired directly by nature. Available in two neutrals or a standout celadon, it was sparked by the patchwork-quilt look of land seen from a bird\u2019s eye view. \u201cI created a grid from a photo of green fields seen from an airplane,\u201d Fayyad explains. \u201cWe tried different hues for each block but settled on a subtler single hue for the rug, with different pile heights defining each block.\u201d Some patches have a low pile height like a mown lawn; others are higher, akin to tall grass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Form<\/a> studio\u2019s Reform rug by Engie Jaouda is another standout. Showcasing an amorphous, looping shape with palpable kinetic charge, its cutouts establish a relationship with the floor beneath, integrating it with the interior architecture. \u201cThis collaboration gave me the chance to materialize my recent interest in the fluidity of nature in an experimental way,\u201d Jaouda says. \u201cI was able to merge my approach with Kahhal 1871\u2019s exploration of historical textile design and process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nehal Leheta and Karim El Hayawan, founding principals of Cairo interior design studio Design Point, debut A\u2019Aru, an earth-tone carpet that celebrates materiality with different textures and fibers in one rug. Fellow interiors firm Design Avenue<\/a> offered up not one but two rugs, a swirling black-and-white carpet by Mohamed Talaia, and Shoghi, by Karen Fadel, a playful wall hanging that is a conceptual take on a checkerboard game\u2019s need for two opposing players to interact. In it, tufted green checkers are interspersed with raw warp thread, in midnight blue, that showcases glimpses of the wall behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the other offerings is Cherif Morsi\u2019s shapely rug that pairs warm tones with graphic shapes, and the Nazar collection, by fashion designers Aya and Mounaz Abdel Raouf of accessories label Okhtein<\/a> (of whom Beyonc\u00e9 is a fan). Their three-part collection of kilims is inspired by the tradition of narrating a story symbolically on carpet, with an evil eye talisman as the focus of their bold, colorful creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"The
The whirling dervish Reform rug by Engie Jaouda of Form. Photography by TFK. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Reform
Reform by Form. Photography by Scoop Empire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Interior and furniture designer Engie Jaouda of Form. Photography by Scoop Empire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Architect
Architect Ahmad Fayyad\u2019s NOT rug plays pile height. Photography by Scoop Empire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Ahmad Fayyad\u2019s NOT rug. Photography by Scoop Empire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Ahmad Fayyad, cofounder of Cairo architecture and interior design firm F&R Partnership. Photography by Scoop Empire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Design Point\u2019s A\u2019Aru rug. Photography by TFK.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nehal Leheta and Karim el Hayawan, founding principals of Cairo interior design studio Design Point. Photography by Scoop Empire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Design Avenue managing partner Mohamed Talaia designed this organically shaped rug. Photography by Scoop Empire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Design Avenue\u2019s Mohamed Talaia. Photography by Scoop Empire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A close-up view of Shoghi, a rug by Karen Fadel, also of Design Avenue. Photography by Scoop Empire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Fadel
Fadel with Kahhal 1871\u2019s fifth-generation managing director, Mohammad El Kahhal, who spearheaded the endeavor. Photography by Georgina McWhirter. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Cherif
Cherif Morsi\u2019s contemporary rug design. Photography by Scoop Empire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Designer
Designer Cherif Morsi. Photography by Scoop Empire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nazar kilims by fashion designers Aya and Mounaz Abdel Raouf. Photography by TFK.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Aya and Mounaz Abdel Raouf’s Nazar kilims. Photography by TFK.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Aya and Mounaz Abdel Raouf, the young founders of Egyptian accessories brand Okhtein. Photography by Scoop Empire. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n