Stylist Colin King Debuts a Gorgeous New Collection with Beni Rugs
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In the two years since curating the Demisch Danant exhibition A Harmony of Things, a collection of discreetly gorgeous midcentury French furniture offset by antique Japanese folk textiles from the collection of Sri founder Stephen Szczepanek, the stylist Colin King has been mulling over the aesthetic relationship between these two disparate cultures.
The result of that contemplation is A Study on Balance, King’s fourth collection as the artistic director at large for Beni Rugs, which launches today. The work reflects on the powerful influence of Japanese aesthetics, principles, and craft on French architecture and design after the country opened its doors to Western trade in the mid-1800s. “I developed an obsession with Japanese textiles, and also became enamored with the architecture and designs of Eileen Gray, Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, and Pierre Chareau,” King said in a release. He also noted that his research revealed parallels between Beni’s approach to weaving and the Japanese craftsmanship that inspired these architects and designers. “Their objective, like Beni’s, was to adhere to both the concept of modernism and the traditional aspects of a craft, and the precision of local craftspeople, which some of them studied firsthand in Japan.”
The 13 new designs conform to the minimalist precedent set by King’s previous collections while nudging his preoccupation with form and scale one step further, mining the Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and modern movements for a graphic vocabulary of flattened space, recurring patterns, and cropped compositions that expound on nature and architecture, all rendered in a palette of suitably earthy hues. Handcrafted using 100 percent live wool, the rugs are available in a full size range from 3-by-5 feet to 12-by-15 feet and can be custom cut as well, with pricing from $662. Elegance is restraint, indeed.
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