Connor Renwick: A Closeup Look at How Orior Continues Local Irish Craft With New Rugs

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

A Closeup Look at How Orior Continues Local Irish Craft With New Rugs

Orior is a family business in Northern Ireland dating back 40 years making handcrafted furniture by skilled artisans that focus on superior Irish craftsmanship combined with a contemporary aesthetic. The brand’s son, Ciaran McGuigan, is creative director and for their latest venture he tapped his sister, fashion designer Katie Ann McGuigan, to collaborate on a collection of rugs. The trio of rug designs are produced in small-batch production runs by four makers in a converted barn in Wexford, a coastal county in Southern Ireland. The collection gives nod to photographer Perry Ogden’s works of the Irish countryside, drawing inspiration from his color palettes and textures. The rug patterns depict the natural beauty found in Ogden’s Irish landscapes, from the aftermath of the country’s harsh weather to the contrasts between old and new scenery. The three rugs – Orcal, Jag and Xida – offer bold colors and graphic patterns that are signatures of Katie Ann’s work. In this month’s Deconstruction, Orior gives us a closeup look at how the new rug collaboration is made.

The converted barn where all of the Orior x KAM rugs are handmade by a group of four artisans; Ciaran McGuigan, Creative Director of Orior, worked closely with the makers to bring the designs to life in a way that was consistent with the quality of Orior furniture.

Each design is hand-sketched onto canvas before two makers work in unison, using a custom tufting gun to thread spools of 100% natural wool yarn through the canvas of this Jag rug, bringing the bold, geometric patterns inspired by the Irish countryside to life.

One of the makers is at work using the custom tufting gun.

Stray pieces of yarn are being hand-trimmed from the Jag rug as it’s in production.

These are spools of 100% natural wool yarn that are used to make the Jag rug.

A maker is at work on the Jag rug in the studio with a complete blue Xida rug to the right hanging on the wall.

Katie Ann McGuigan working on her sketches for the collection. While conceptualizing the designs, Katie combined her decade of experience in the fashion industry, her love for design and the craftsmanship quality that Orior offers, while staying true to the family’s Irish heritage.

Once the rugs are finished, they are hung on a clean white wall where they undergo one last finishing trim to ensure all stray pieces of yarn are cut.

This is a portrait of the brother sister duo, creative director Ciaran McGuigan and fashion designer Katie Ann McGuigan, with a blue Xida rug in 12 Henrietta Street in Dublin, a historic Georgian home with original floorboards from the 1730s and plasterwork and finishes from the 1780s.