Friday, June 1, 2018

Design News: Madeline Weinrib Is Closing Her Company After Twenty Years

It has been an inspiring two decades—with beautiful products. It is time to move forward for Madeline.

And she’s having a great sale through June 15. Everything is being sold, and at dramatic sale prices. See details below.

I’m a longtime friend of Madeline, and a collector of Madeline Weinrib ikat textiles, pillows, ikat clutch purses, accessories, and beautiful one-off bags and designs she has dreamed up.

I wish Madeline great good fortune as she moves ahead with new projects and many fresh and wonderful new ideas. She has always been actively involved in a range of philanthropic endeavors and she will continue to be involved in international fund-raising.




Madeline created a highly respected and admired textiles and design company—beloved by interior designers. She started the stylish new updated ikat textiles trend two decades ago. And she created fresh colors (she’s a fine artist) and wonderful ways of working with folkloric textiles to bring new life and elegance to décor.

Now the company is closing—and she is ready to move on with a Morocco venture that will be a huge success, and new horizons. I wish her good fortune and every happiness.

I will miss Madi’s thrilling design collections—and I remember happy times together with Madeline in Jaipur… observing new rugs and fabrics being made in remote workshops, visiting friends, checking blockprinting companies, viewing carpets being completed, wandering through old palaces, and staying at the Rambagh Palace hotel.

She is a vivid and gregarious travel companion, and lots of fun.







FINAL ONLINE SALE:

Friday May 25—June 15.

50 percent up to 80 percent off carpets, fabrics by the yard, pillows and accessories.

New products including fabric yardage and pillows will be added during the sale. There is another small line being offered exclusively as bespoke called Classic Indian Dhurries.

www.madelineweinrib.com





New York artist/designer Madeline Weinrib pioneered traditional ikat designs in vibrant and chic and gorgeous modern colors over a decade ago.

With jolts of shocking pink and dashes of indigo and plum and lime and sunflower yellow, her iconic Ikat pillows have ben the favorites of top interior designers around the world. Her Ikat weave designs have become a cult--and it seems every creative interior today has to have at least one Madeline Weinrib Ikat pillow or textiles or outdoor fabrics.

Collect them while you can.




MORE MADELINE WEINRIB:

Her designs can be read as both very modern and quite traditional.

When she started working in textiles that was something she wanted to achieve. She designed concepts that would be contemporary and speak of its own time, but if it were a really strong design, it would work well in other environments. Great design should have flexibility. Using traditional motifs that have been simplified and pared to their essence has allowed her to achieve this duality.

Madeline is constantly adding new patterns of Ikat into her collection and each one boldly offers permutations of color and pattern that define her work.

Each pillow has been hand-sewn in New York and finished with stitched suede piping, Belgian linen backing, and mother- of-pearl buttons.

70% silk, 30% cotton. Goose down filler.

Variation in color or texture is inherent to Madeline’s handmade, handwoven ikats.

Each pillow is individual and one-of-a-kind.

With silk and cotton—and her vibrant artist’s eye—Madeline spins beauty and style that add vibrant life to all interiors.




“In traditional Ikat weaving of remote Central Asia, where nomads and city weavers prized their crafts, favored colors are very vivid. The weavers love emerald and crimson and chrome yellow and rose pink. They find my colors a bit dull, and are puzzled when I specify indigo with ivory. For them, the more colors they weave, the more valuable is the fabric. I use colors in a minimal way and I’ve distilled the woven patterns to show the mysterious beauty and allure of Ikat. That’s my signature.” — Madeline Weinrib




“Traditional looms that my fabrics are woven on are 18 inches wide, so my pillows always have seams. At first I though it was a mistake, but now the mis-matched patterns and the seam are signatures of my pillows. I treat them as paintings or sculpture. For my customers, they will be come heirlooms. That makes my very happy.” — Madeline Weinrib





REMINISCING WITH MADELINE:

DDS: What has been the most inspiring aspect of your work?
MW:
Travel is inspiring and I meet talented and fascinating people throughout the world. I worked in India. I worked in remote regions of Central Asia, I love working in Turkey. Morocco always fascinates me. For me, and for my staff, the most rewarding moment has been when the new designs finally arrive in New York after the long process of development. It is thrilling when the finished product finally comes to fruition and feels beautiful. It takes such a long time so the gratification is very delayed.


DDS: You have a great rapport with your Indian carpet weavers! You also work in other countries.
MW:
In addition to India, I also make carpets in Pakistan, Nepal. Each country produces a different weave and a different aesthetic and I'm very fond of all the people that I work with. My designs are very much rooted in a sense of place and possess a truth to origins, which I love. And naturally they are all ethically produced, and the work is done by specialists who’ve been weaving fine carpets for decades. It’s exciting to see these highly experienced.






ABOUT MADELINE WEINRIB:

Painter and designer Madeline Weinrib lives and works in New York City. The great-granddaughter of ABC Carpet & Home founder Max Weinrib, she has carries on the family tradition with her innovative collection of fine handcrafted carpets and textiles.

Translating her painterly sensibilities into woven form, Madeline launched her first carpet collection in 1997. Lush and opulent pattern, her designs draw on a wealth of sources gleaned from her travels..

In addition to her signature collection of carpets and textiles, her chic and superbly appointed atelier on the sixth floor of ABC Carpet & Home showcases a growing repertoire of evening bags, caftans and limited edition vintage furniture.

In addition Madeline is a trustee of Project Mala, a non-profit organization committed to building schools throughout the carpet-weaving regions of India and lends her support to fund a classroom in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, Northern India. These passions and more projects will continue.




WHERE TO FIND:

Madeline Weinrib
126 5th Avenue
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10011
(212) 675-4212
www.madelineweinrib.com


CREDITS: 
All photography courtesy Madeline Weinrib

1 comment:

Dawn said...

I can see why it is closing. Everything looks like it is from a time warp. Nothing you haven't seen before.