Jan Kath Press Booklet 01 His Designs,Kath Is“Uncompromisingly Conservative” Where Qualityisconcerned
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jan kath Press booklet D The Designer bochum, berlin, …, new york QualiTy anD manufacTuring our self-image hoto-Downloa hanD knoTTeD P hanD TufT nfo & nfo I www.jan-kath.com eraseD heriTage losT weave rioT eraseD classic biDjar evoluTion raDi Deluxe sari Deluxe spacecrafTeD TaggeD precious panel le maroc blanc haîk mauro & spice from russia wiTh love heiTer bis wolkig boro arTwork sliceD jan kath jan booklet Press Tokio unknown arTisTs on I 2014 Informat Page 01 jan kath Press booklet D Press contact Gaby HerzoG rueckerstraSSe 7 10119 berlin Germany hoto-Downloa m: +49 (0) 163 776 70 53 P [email protected] nfo & nfo I www.jan-kath.com Info & Photo-DownloaD www.jan-katH.com jan kath DesIgn gmbh heaDquarters Friederikastrasse 148 44789 bocHum Germany t: +49 (0) 234 941 23 44 F: +49 (0) 234 941 23 90 [email protected] jan kath jan booklet Press Press contact Press kath jan Page 03 the DesIgner D you can be cool wHile still keepinG your Feet warm! witH His modern desiGns, jan katH (born 1972) is creatinG a completely new perspective on carpets. Guided by a bold approacH in His work, katH, oriGinally From bocHum, combines classical ele- ments oF oriental carpets witH contemporary, minimalist hoto-Downloa desiGn. P nfo & nfo He consciously breaks with traditional ways of seeing and throws strict rules of I www.jan-kath.com composition out of the window. While an entire generation once rolled up their grandmothers’ Persian rugs and exiled them from the living room, Kath’s designs are now bringing them “back to the floor.” “Nobody feels really comfortable in clinically styled apartments with highly polished concrete floors,” Kath explains. “Our carpets are an organic dotting of the ‘i’, islands of wellbeing with a healing effect in cool interiors – without destroying the overall style.” With his interpreta- tion of the modern carpet, Kath has developed an unmistakable signature that defines style and is one of the most important carpet designers on the interna- tional stage today. His concepts have earned numerous accolades, including the Red Dot award and Carpet Design Award. More and more of his work is now ap- pearing in museums that showcase art and design such as the Frankfurt Museum of Applied Art, the Beijing International Design Triennial, Art Museum Riga Bourse and the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. Kath is an autodidact. The matrix for his innovative designs is formed by a relationship to carpets with deep emo- tional roots: he is from the third generation of a family of carpet dealers who have branches in the Ruhr and in Berlin. When he was just a young boy, he and his fa- ther, Martin Kath, used to visit manufacturers in Iran and Nepal. These experi- ences trained his eye and awakened a fundamental understanding of color com- binations and proportions. At the same time, Kath never wanted to follow in the footsteps of his parents, and he never intended to continue running the business for them. In order to find his own way, he traveled through Asia and the Middle East when he was 20 years old. During this trip, he wound up, more or less acci- kath jan booklet Press dentally, in Nepal. There, friends of his family offered him the opportunity to start working as a quality controller in their carpet production business. His “connec- tion with the world of carpets” was reestablished. Later, Kath took control of the manufacturing process and began to produce his own designs. Inspired by nu- merous trips through vibrant world cities such as Paris, Istanbul, New York, To- kyo, Beirut, Sydney, and, last but not least, his home – the Ruhr, with its archaic gner I industrial culture – he quickly developed an individual signature. Although the es allure created by imperfection, erosion, and transformation plays a central role in D his designs, Kath is “uncompromisingly conservative” where quality is concerned. the kath jan Page 05 bochum berlIn cologne hamburg stuttgart new york D tHe jan katH desiGn creative center is located in an old, 1,000 square meter Factory loFt at Friederika- strasse 148 in bocHum. tHe new collection is present- ed on temporary walls in tHe sHowroom, beneatH old steel beams and liFtinG cranes. hoto-Downloa P Large-format carpets made of wool, shimmering silk, and stinging- nfo & nfo nettle fibers are shown to their best advantage in a light-flooded hall I www.jan-kath.com that has the rough charm of the industrial culture of a past age. By prior appointment, carpet dealers and their customers are allowed to have a look around the private gallery, which adjoins the showroom. JK collec- tions are sold around the world by selected trading partners. In recent years, Jan Kath has developed into a very strong brand with a major influence on trends in the carpet design industry. At one time, customers used to look for a particular kind of carpet whose pattern was represen- tative of a certain region or people – for example a “Bidjar”, “Afghan”, “Buchara”, or “Keshan”. Today, however, the most important factors are the designer and the variety of ideas he or she has to offer. “People don’t search through large piles of carpets looking for just any pretty pattern,” explains Kath, pointing out that most customers ask explicitly for a certain designer. “People want to see the individual signa ture in the work – a concept that they can understand.” For this reason, Jan Kath opened his first flagship store in the fall of 2011. His most recent collec- tions are displayed in a 150 square meter gallery located at Brunnen- strasse 3 in the Mitte district of Berlin (near Rosen thaler Platz).The JK store in Stuttgart (Wilhelmstrasse 8b), which opened its doors in 2012, is 100 square meters in size. In 2013 a store was opened in the Hafencity district of Hamburg (Am Sandtorpark 14) in the immediate vicinity of the traditional warehouse quarter, which for centuries has been one of the largest marketplaces in the world for Oriental carpets. Jan Kath de- kath jan booklet Press scribes the 320-square-meter store in Cologne (Venloer Strasse 16) as a carpet cathedral. The carpets are displayed on the six-meter-high walls on the first floor, while the historical catacombs in the basement provide n ... a fascinating counterbalance. He also exhibits his designs in a 350 I square meter converted loft close to the Marlborough Gallery and Pace erl Gallery in New York (555 West 25th Street). The British magazine COVER b celebrated the inauguration of the Manhattan store with the words “Kath is going global” and predicted that “it is only a matter of time until anoth- er Jan Kath shop pops up in a town near you …” bochum, showrooms Page 07 bochum hamburg showroom store jan kath DesIgn gmbh heaDquarters jan kath store hamburg Friederikastrasse 148 44789 bocHum am sandtorpark 14 20457 HamburG t: +49 (0) 234 941 23 44 F: +49 (0) 234 941 23 90 t: +49 (0) 40 228 69 39 0 F: +49 (0) 40 228 69 39 09 [email protected] [email protected] D cologne berlIn hoto-Downloa P store store nfo & nfo I www.jan-kath.com jan kath store köln jan kath store berlIn venloer str. 16 50672 köln brunnenstraSSe 3 10119 berlin-mitte t: +49 (0) 221 94 967 940 t: +49 (0) 30 48 49 60 90 [email protected] [email protected] stuttgart new york store showroom jan kath jan booklet Press jan kath store stuttgart jan kath showroom kyle anD kath LLC wilHelmstrasse 8b 555 west 25tH st 2nd Floor ecke HeusteiGstrasse 70182 stuttGart new york, ny 10001 united states n ... I t: +49 (0) 711 518 90 350 F: +49 (0) 711 518 92 625 t: +1 646 74 52 555 F: +1 646 74 52 554 erl [email protected] [email protected] b bochum, showrooms Page 09 qualIty anD manufacturIng D jan katH is one oF tHe most important carpet desiGners on tHe international staGe. His carpets can be Found hoto-Downloa everywHere – in tHe Homes oF arabian royalty, in tHe P wasHinGton residence oF Former us president bill nfo & nfo clinton, in tHe villa oF rock star antHony kiedis in I www.jan-kath.com Hawaii, in private suites at tHe “Four seasons” in cairo, on tHe luxury yacHts oF multinational oil conGlomer- ates, and in tHe sHowrooms oF important parisian FasH- ion labels. With regard to size, format, and materials, the carpets can be made according to individual wishes. Even items from the collections can be freely combined with one another in a kind of modular design system. Yarns from wool, silk, and stinging nettles are available in a range of over 1,200 colors. Kath’s modern designs first take shape on comput- ers in the creative center in Bochum in the Ruhr district of Germany and are sent electronically to be made in Nepal, Thailand, India, or Morocco. Nevertheless, he relies on long-established production methods for the realization of his ideas. The carpets are handwoven in the Himalayas in Agra, the ancient Mogul capital in India or in the Atlas mountains of Morocco in line with centuries-old traditions and at manufacturing sites that are often still run as small family busi- nesses. There are between 100 and 450 knots in every square inch of carpet (6.45 square centimeters). It takes three to four months to weave a carpet measuring 2.5 × 3 meters.