'Home and family are the most important things to me - it is this sense of home, comfort & joy that I endeavour to bring with creating rugs for people. I love going into client’s houses and really helping them find what would suit them.' - Amy Kent
ABOUT
The Story
Amy began her business almost 20 years ago, in 2005. At the time, there were few rug companies, and she found, having searched herself, that there was a gap in the market for beautiful, bespoke, high-quality rugs that didn’t cost the earth.
She took herself to India, where her father’s best friend lived, and with their help and advice, travelled down to Bhadohi, which they told her was the best place to create her own designs using the traditional skill of Indian rug weavers. And they were right. She met the husband and wife team who were to become the lynchpin to her business and who she still works with today. In 2015 Amy started working in Kathmandu, too, another family-run business; this time, a brother-sister team. Over the years, Amy has developed a brilliant system with them that ensures everything runs smoothly, making their remote working relationships the success they are.
Amy's first overnight train trip down to Varanasi in 2005 to look for rug makers
Learning about different rug making techniques
Amy checking one of her early designs
Design Inspiration & Collaborations
Originally, Amy’s designs were founded on very organic designs, drawing inspiration from nature and the world around her. On that first trip to India in 2005, she took with her a portfolio of 15 designs based on drawings and photos from the Chelsea Flower Show and her garden. This then progressed to more architectural patterns, anything really that caught her eye that she thought would look nice on a floor.
Starting with her sister, artist Lucy Kent, she then turned herself to collaborations, working with like-minded creatives whose designs and aesthetic she knew would translate beautifully into rugs. ‘Working on your own is wonderful, but can get creatively quite lonely. There’s nothing quite like collaborating with someone else to really expand and challenge your aesthetic boundaries.’
Community
Amy is registered with Care & Fair, a charity that ensures no child labour or unethical practices are used during rug production, but over the years, Amy has worked directly with both her teams in India and Kathmandu to contribute to the respective communities. When her children were little, she ran private charity events (mainly involving animals!) to raise funds for specific projects, often in schools. Latterly Amy has offered her help in whichever area she is asked to support.
The Team
Working so closely with both her teams she not only has a wonderful relationship but trusts them completely. She visits them once a year and, during this time, endeavours to understand as much as possible about each part of the rug-making process and identify which areas could be improved. She is very much of the opinion that ‘every little helps’ in the universal strive to make the world more sustainable and that running your own business brings with it a certain responsibility.
Sustainability
With bespoke rugs, there are inevitably materials that are left over; therefore, after thinking long and hard about how she could ‘give back’ in her own small way, Amy began the ‘Recycled Rugs’ range, a rolling collection of flatweaves made from the remnants of wools left over from bespoke rugs. Literally woven from anything left over, they are completely unique in their design and colour, as well as incredibly durable and being made 100% from wool, completely bio-degradable, pretty much the most sustainable product you could have. As they are an ongoing collection, they also keep weavers in work when there are quiet patches, ensuring as much employment as possible.
Niche
Amy’s renowned hands-on approach is what makes her unique. As a small company, she operates where possible on a site visit basis for a truly personalised experience. Working directly with the client, whether an interior designer or a private customer, she fully analyses their requirements and ultimately finds the best rug solution for them. What is testament to this are the clients that come back to her time and time again. Nothing makes Amy happier than visiting clients and helping them find the best rugs for their homes.
Since the beginning, Amy’s main ethos has been to produce beautiful handmade rugs that are as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. However, knowing that the bespoke route can be quite daunting and expensive, in 2023, Amy launched ‘Shop Amy’. This off-the-peg, immediately available selection of Amy’s designs as flatweaves can be shipped straight away so that clients can get the look of a hand-woven rug, but without the bespoke price tag.