A Material Change

Mark McMenamin and Athena Waligore -- Interior Design, 2/1/2013 2:00:00 AM

For 16 years, the painterly predilections of Janis Provisor and Brad Davis have been singularly served by wild silk. But after numerous requests from clients, the owners and cocreative directors of Fort Street Studio unveil their first assortment in wool. As it turns out, the transition took more than a quick call to a new supplier—think five weeks in Asia, immersed in the hot bed of rug making. Master artisans were located and entrusted to reinterpret the studio’s watercolor-inspired aesthetic. The focus then turned to perfecting wool technique: knotting, weaving, carving, twisting. Tactility and texture distinguish the eight hand-knotted patterns, most conspicuously in Corrugated, its ridges simulated by high and low piles. Named for its flat-woven components, Flats references carved motifs on antique jade and ivory. Leaves imagines Chinese oolong tea casting shadows across water. The free form Strato pays homage to the company’s artful heritage, an approach also evident in the stylized randomness of Texture. But old habits die hard, and so hand-cut Moss achieves its furrowed feel through a mixture of wool and, you guessed it, silk.