Floorplan Launches Rug Your City on Kickstarter: A Project to Modernize Storytelling in Handmade Rugs

• Handmade rugs and kilims inspired by modern cities revive the storytelling tradition of classic Persian and Turkish rugs.
• Pilot collection captures the spirit of New York. Backers to vote on the next city.
• If funded, Floorplan Rugs will use social media to nominate cities and engage a broad creative community in collaborative design.

August 18, 2015 – LOS ANGELES – Floorplan, a designer-founded company intent on creating a better rug buying experience, launched Rug Your City on Kickstarter today. As the name suggests, Rug Your City is a project to create handmade rugs inspired by modern cities, refreshing the centuries-old tradition of depicting local life and culture in classic Persian and Turkish rugs and kilims. Floorplan is seeking $12,000 to prototype and produce a New York-inspired pilot collection and to begin development of a second. Nominations for the next city to be commemorated will be tallied via social media until the campaign ends on September 17, and all backers may cast their vote in the month following its close. If funded, Floorplan will again use social media to enlist designers – with or without textile experience – to collaborate on a collection of rugs inspired by the backer-chosen city.

“The classics are classics for a reason: the Nains from Persia, Herekes from Turkey, Kubas from the Caucus Mountains; They are beautiful rugs that tell epic stories. It’s the significance of their iconic motifs that gives them enduring style,” said Erin Eisinger, co-founder and CEO of Floorplan.  “We think it’s time modern rugs tell stories of place as well. Our vision for Rug Your City is to create heirlooms that capture the spirit of modern cities and to include the people who cherish those cities in the process.”

The five-piece pilot collection captures New York as imagined by two graphic designers, an architectural firm, an environmental consultant and a Brooklyn-based artist team. Depending on the design, they will be either hand-woven (flatweave) or hand-knotted (plush) and will take four to nine months to produce. All rugs will be handmade by skilled artisans in India, Pakistan and/or Turkey.

“We know the prototype-to-production process well, and the weavers we have lined up are ones I have depended upon for years,” said Mehmet Bozatli, co-CEO and founder of Floorplan.  “Our experience in both design and in the rug industry makes us the perfect bridge between these communities to create something fresh… using technology in a way that hasn’t been done before.”

Early backers can pre-order the New York rugs in limited quantities at up to 40% off MSRP. Prices start at $149 for a 3x5 flatweave rug, while totes, t-shirts, posters and small collectibles printed with the same designs are also offered as rewards for pledges starting at $5. Nominations for the next city to be commemorated by Rug Your City are open until the Kickstarter campaign ends on September 17, 2015. At the discretion of Floorplan, a short list of nominated cities will be up for the backer vote.

To nominate a place, post your inspiration photo to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the hashtags: #FloorplanRugs, #RugYourCity and #RugInsertYourCityName (for example: #RugAkron.) 

 

About The Rug Your City Designers

See Rug Your City Bios Page

About The Founders

Erin + Mehmet crossed paths in New York City in the aughts. Erin was climbing the corporate ladder convincing financial institutions to implement user-centered design. Mehmet was running a wholesale rug business and finishing his master’s in architecture at Columbia.  When the urge for adventure struck in 2008, they moved to Istanbul and started FourByNorth Studios, a user-experience design and architectural consulting firm to serve both blue chip and the burgeoning startup companies in Turkey and Europe. After years of helping other businesses launch and refine brands, they applied their team’s expertise to a product that they know well but is elusive to the average consumer: good quality rugs at reasonable prices. Floorplan aims to cut through the noise of misleading markdowns and rugs that look good at first but shabby in short order.

About Floorplan

Floorplan is an agile rug company dedicated to improving the experience of finding and buying great rugs. It specializes in hand-made and vintage goods meant to last: hand-knotted, hand-loomed and hand-woven rugs in natural fibers like wool, cotton, silk and jute. Based in Los Angeles, CA, Floorplan has a retail space at Urban Americana in the Zaferia Design District of Long Beach and is online at FloorplanRugs.com. 

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