The French Cogolin rug factory was purchased by Textile Engineer Jean Lauer in 1928, just a stone’s throw away from Saint-Tropez. Immediately, Lauer set about transforming his new acquisition from a factory specialising in silkworm culture and hand-knotted rugs into a workshop for innovation. He installed 19th century mechanical jacquard looms and imported a host of new techniques for knotting and weaving. These advances enabled the factory to produce a wider variety of rugs and led to Cogolin’s increasingly widespread recognition throughout the 1930s as a leading creator of bespoke products.

Cogolin’s creations would soon be found gracing some of the world’s most prestigious interiors, from Versailles, to the Élysée, to the most luxurious French ocean liners. This acclaim also led to collaborations with some of the most celebrated artists and decorators across Europe, such as Jules Leleu, Jean-Michel Franck, Christian Bérard, Sir David Hicks and Jean Cocteau. The models created in partnership with these legendary figures continue to line the La Manufacture Cogolin archives today as a testament to its place in contemporary carpet history.

As the decade of its centenary approached, La Manufacture Cogolin experienced a rebirth in 2010 when it joined the house of Tai Ping, a group of several of the world’s leading carpet brands, bound together by a shared philosophy, artisanal expertise and commitment to excellence.

French revival

The organisation has been restructured, the looms restored, the buildings renovated, the colour palette reworked and new materials have been introduced, enabling the workshop to create brand new collections with a more contemporary signature.

Simultaneously, Cogolin’s time-honoured technique of hand-knotting continues to live on in its Cogolin et les Mains du Monde (Cogolin and the Hands of the World) line, which utilises the expertise perfected by Cogolin over the past century to bring archival designs back to life.

For its latest collection, La Manufacture Cogolin has collaborated with French Architect Laurent Buttazzoni. Laurent Buttazzoni graduated from ESAG Penninghen Paris in 1985. He collaborated side by side with Andrée Putman for seven years before starting Buttazzoni Agence in 1995. 10 years later, the agency became Buttazzoni & Associés.

Parisian at heart, Laurent Buttazzoni lives and works in the heart of the capital with an office on Rue de Rivoli. Buttazzoni approaches interior architecture with the intention of creating a living, breathing space; a poetic space and a space to grow.

What he prefers above all on his projects is material, volume and light. His projects are varied and always unique – the Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery in Pantin in an old reconverted warehouse, a farm in Normandy, offices with a glass roof and Hotel Particulier in the middle of Paris.

Buttazzoni brings French rigor and a contemporary elegance to each project with a precise eye, a sure taste and a sense of constraint with a deep sense of culture.

Working together, the three variations that have emerged from Laurent Buttazzoni and La Manufacture Cogolin’s collaboration – Syracuse, Modica and Noto – were represented at La Manufacture Cogolin’s Paris-based showroom in June.

Italian influence

Woven on La Manufacture Cogolin’s Var-based artisan’s 19th century jacquard looms, the rugs owe their Mediterranean-sounding monikers to Laurent Buttazzoni’s Italian residence. In this design haven, a traditional Cogolin rug perfectly offsets the restored antique tile floor of the master bedroom.

It is to the artisans of the Orient, however, particularly Morocco, that Laurent Buttazzoni looked for inspiration. Featuring a latticework pattern inspired by Beni Ourain rugs, the resulting design is graphic and playful with a series of ethnic characters playfully twisted and revisited by the Parisian designer through the prism of Cogolin’s technical expertise.

“Laurent is a talented designer who understands our tradition for craftsmanship and whose authentic approach matches the values of the manufacture,” says Sarah Henry, Managing Director at La Manufacture Cogolin.

Using the same base design, Syracuse, Modica and Noto each assert their difference through signature techniques of manufacturing, such as high-relief patterns and plays on loops and fibres, thus interpreting motifs from other cultures while staying true to La Manufacture Cogolin’s house style.

These three variations on a theme, each harnessing different techniques by the manufacturing, was presented in an equally on-trend, colourful installation at La Manufacture Cogolin’s showroom in June.