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Art Underfoot For over four decades, OT Carpets has been turning the softest of premium yarns into sumptuous bespoke works of art for the world’s most exclusive yachts, homes and private aircraft. Now the second generation of the Trautlein family is involved too! by Désirée Sormani - ph. Tim Marquardt / teamfoto-marquardt.de
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he team at OT Carpets are living the dream: they work only at the very highest end of the market, creating sublime bespoke designs for the most discerning clients. Clients who don’t just want a bespoke carpet, clients that want a carpet that takes you on a
journey, that expresses their most creative ideas and desires. That means each car-
pet is as individual as the person that commissions it with results ranging from the muted to the dazzlingly vibrant. Even better news is that OT remains very much a family business with the new generation very firmly part of its day-to-day running. Daughter Julia joined just five years ago but is already project managing OT’s most important projects, while her partner Max has been providing invaluable support over the last two years in sales, development and installation. This isn’t just good news for the family and the business but also for their clients as the new generation is simultaneously drawing and building on over 40 years of experience in bespoke carpet design and making. OT continues to work all over the world, delivering astonishing solutions for yachts, private residences and aircraft in styles spanning the spectrum from abstract to Art Nouveau and everything in between. What OT brings to the mix is an unparalleled skill in turning client’s dreams into glorious reality. However, that is far from the end of the story. “We do a lot of in-house collections and new design inspiration comes from both clients and our carpet design department. We have two in-house textile designers and three freelance creative partners,” says Elke Treutlein. Collaborations with renowned international pens have produced astonishing collections that chime perfectly with the needs of high-end interior experts too. As has always been the case, OT chooses only the very finest natural materials with 100 per cent pure New Zealand Wool at the very top end of the scale followed by no less than five types of silk. This guarantees that OT’s product production process will remain as sustainable as possible. “We make a completely natural product. Every single carpet is made from natural fibres and natural fibres only, and our manufacturing process is completely artisanal with everything done by hand,” concludes Elke. Sourcing too is meticulous with special contracts in place to ensure a consistently superb standard of quality. Something that has not gone unnoticed by the company’s loyal clientele who return again and again. www.olivertreutlein.com
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questions to Olivier Treutlein Founder OT Carpets Could you tell us a bit about the new collection? What is it called and where did you get your inspiration from for it? It’s called Chess Rosee. It was originally an art project embarked on in the year of the new millennium, 2000. It was created by one of the world’s most famous Art Directors and Brand creators, Man Bre or Manfred Bremeier Could you describe it for us, please? It looks like an abstract painting. It is very different from our previous output. Professor Manfred Bremeier was a good friend of mine. He was a very busy man and spent most of his time creating very well-known corporate identities all over the world. The little time he had outside of that he dedicated to making art. In his art, he developed in many different directions, embracing everything from glass to sculpture, oils, water colours and even spray paint. What makes this particular project so special? Did you have to use any very special materials? Chess Rosee was a wonderful creation involving huge paintings, combining a whole variety of techniques from Man Bre’s highly skilled calligraphy and spray painting to contrasts. Who do you think it will be attractive to? What kind of client do you think would it would appeal to? After his death in 2005, Man Bre’s artists went through a period of forgetting all about his creations. However, Elke wanted to honour him and to pay homage to our deep friendship with him. So she decided we should take it upon ourselves to bring his creations back to life. But this time, to ensure they were inspired by our modern lifestyle as it too is a perfect fit for the kind of art he made. It is also ideal for the times we live in and the colours we are seeing and feeling around us right now. Is this project as environmentally conscious as the rest of your work? Of course. When it came to recreating Man Bre’s signature style, we decided that silk was the only material capable of delivering the absolutely smooth result for the Chess Rosee.
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OT’s new Chess Rosee collection began life as a Man Bre art project in 2000. Now it has inspired a dazzling new OT Carpets design: an homage to friendship created by Elke Treutlein in smoothest of silk, which beautifully communicates its power
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