In 1965, Abraham Moradzadeh was one of 20 rug dealers on the same street in Iran. Rather than selling to tourists like others, he focused on people moving to Tehran to work at the embassies. He taught them about rugs, and they became his lifelong customers in return. Now based in Los Angeles, Abe and his team at Woven are the go-to resource for antique and vintage rugs, as well as new designs that “ground the idea of home, culture and comfort,” he says.
Informed by the antique and vintage rugs they celebrate and learn from every day, the team at Woven also designs a line of modern classics. The creative duo behind these handwoven masterpieces is Abe’s son and creative director Sam Moradzadeh and design director Christina Tullock. Both Los Angeles natives, Sam and Christina appreciate how the city is always evolving. “I’m always inspired here,” says Sam. “You can feel the energy of people making things and experimenting. In L.A. there’s less fear about what people think. Instead, we’re excited to see people’s reactions.”
“We’re always experimenting, which is unusual in a field that can be quite cerebral about rugs,” says Christina. “We’re very in the moment.” One such moment – when Sam opened the door to Christina’s office and said, “Let’s do a modern version of a Moroccan rug” – is how the Névé Rug began. “I’ve always been attracted to bringing old into new,” says Sam.
Knowing that people really love the texture of a traditional Moroccan rug, Christina put a modern take on it to create a luxurious piece that’s just right for today’s environment. “I’m a huge Donald Judd fan,” she adds.
Another Sam-Christina moment led to the design of the Dune Rug. “We were in India meeting weavers,” says Christina, “when I mentioned wanting to do an ombre that’s a little more modern.” Sam immediately loved the idea and decided that they should design the rug right then and there. “We sat on the floor of the factory and started pulling colors for the rug,” she says.
“She was really mad and we were fighting over colors, and that’s when we came up with this idea that it’s sort of an ombre meets color block,” says Sam. Like sand that’s been formed by the wind, Dune isn’t a perfect fade. Its magic is in how it shows off the colors through the fade, creating movement throughout the rug as the colors both blend and contrast.
Sam and Christina believe that when there’s movement in a rug, it really grounds a room. Like L.A., rugs are always changing, and that’s what drives these designers. “As a rug is used, you see the changes and you see the movement,” says Sam. “It’s always going to look different and that’s the exciting part of it.” To which Christina adds, “It creates a history to the piece.”
