Dutch Designer Rugs from ICE International
The world’s premier custom rug maker partners with designer couples for distinct, vibrant takes
Dutch rug-maker ICE International‘s hand-knotted throws grace some of the most esteemed establishments the world over. From The Savoy in London to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, ICE is no stranger to high profile clients. The family-run company’s latest series, dubbed “Dutch Landscapes” (which isn’t a series of canals and tulip fields), calls on a star-studded roster of Dutch designers—all of whom are couples that live and work together. Claire and Roderick Vos, Jeanine and Piet Hein Eek, Petra Janssen and Edwin Vollebergh, and Kiki van Eijk and Joost van Bleiswijk all take a bold direction with their interpretation of what a rug means to a room. Partnering with ICE’s design studio, the work was translated into production then handmade in ICE’s exclusive facility in Nepal.
“What we’ve looked for in each designer is the ability to create a wide platform for avant-garde ideas and for each person to have an outspoken signature style and international outlook,” says ICE director and one half of the team of brothers running the company, Rogier Janssen. The idea to call on couples came after a formative meeting with the Vos duo. After seeing the chemistry and design output that living, working and feeding off one another’s creativity gave, the theme of the collection was clear. “We knew they would challenge each other and bring out the best in their other half,” Janssen adds.
ICE is one of the few companies remaining that places equally high rigor on design aesthetic and traditional rug production. Since the company operates its own factories in Nepal and India (and has done for decades), there is no sense of outpouring with manufacturing. “We have built the facility from the ground up and going to Nepal therefore always feels like coming home,” Janssen adds. “We don’t have a business arrangement or contracts, because we have something that is much stronger: a family bond.”
The Dutch Landscape from ICE International debuts at this year’s Dutch Design Week, opening 18 October 2014 and running through 26 October in Eindhoven.
Images courtesy of ICE International
