Vendor in Focus: Chandra
Heritage Indian rug making meets modern design
What motivated your father to found Chandra?
“Dad felt very strongly about keeping the rug-making tradition alive. Our rugs are made in Bhadohi, India, where he’s from, and he wanted to invest in the community.”
What is your brand ethos?
“We believe in the spirit of creating things by hand. It naturally produces a better product, as the rugs go through an inherent quality check. We call ourselves a modern rug company because we simplify the process of producing and selling a handcrafted rug.”
“Dad felt very strongly about keeping the rug-making tradition alive. Our rugs are made in Bhadohi, India, where he’s from, and he wanted to invest in the community.”
What is your brand ethos?
“We believe in the spirit of creating things by hand. It naturally produces a better product, as the rugs go through an inherent quality check. We call ourselves a modern rug company because we simplify the process of producing and selling a handcrafted rug.”
How are your rugs made?
“They’re hand-tufted, hand-loomed or hand-knotted. We produce most of our own yarn to ensure the same consistency; this ensures consistent color when the yarn is dyed. We also wash our products, which helps with the luster and shine. Most companies avoid washing because it would immediately show any dyeing flaws.”
“They’re hand-tufted, hand-loomed or hand-knotted. We produce most of our own yarn to ensure the same consistency; this ensures consistent color when the yarn is dyed. We also wash our products, which helps with the luster and shine. Most companies avoid washing because it would immediately show any dyeing flaws.”
What makes your designs special?
“We carve our patterns by hand with scissors, use hand-shearing to level out each piece and hand-bind all the edges. If a rug has three colors on one side, we bind it with three colors — we use the same color to waterfall off that edge. We try to do little things like that that make a huge difference.”
Featured Products: Davin Contemporary Area Rug, Allie Abstract Area Rug, Chandra Angelo Rug
“We carve our patterns by hand with scissors, use hand-shearing to level out each piece and hand-bind all the edges. If a rug has three colors on one side, we bind it with three colors — we use the same color to waterfall off that edge. We try to do little things like that that make a huge difference.”
Featured Products: Davin Contemporary Area Rug, Allie Abstract Area Rug, Chandra Angelo Rug
Adairsville, Georgia, and Bhadohi, India, might be oceans apart, but a common thread holds them together: rugs. While both reside in regions linked to fiber fame, the connection runs far deeper thanks to one man, Chandra Tiwari. In 2005, he founded Chandra in Adairsville to empower the Bhadohi rug-making community. We spoke with his son and the company’s vice president, Ravi Tiwari, to hear their story.