Established in 1956 and headquartered in Hong Kong, Tai Ping is a custom handmade and woven carpet manufacturer founded as an effort to preserve China’s traditional practice of handcrafted carpet making. Today, House of Taiping owns 14 showrooms across three continents and produces extensive collections that have graced every sphere of the residential and hospitality markets under five brands. One of them is the Tai Ping brand.

Celebrated for its designs, quality and concierge service, Tai Ping is also recognised as one of the brands that frequently collaborates with young designers both local and international, amongst them Rita Motta Perez, Jeff Leatham and Andre Fu. The latest name to join this prestigious list of collaborators is Lim + Lu.

Helmed by architecture-trained designer duo Vincent Lim and Elaine Lu, Lim + Lu is an interdisciplinary design studio founded in New York and now proudly based in Hong Kong.

For Tai Ping, Lim + Lu has created Reform, a collection of carpets with flexible geometry. The collection comprises three modules, each a different composition of overlapping circles in various colours.

“We wanted to create a rug that would be able to conform to any space without sacrificing its inherent character,” says Lu.

The duo also took inspiration from the way colours are visualised in education. “Colour charts of overlapping circles normally associated with visual teaching was the first inspiration for the rugs,” shares Lim. “We started with overlapping circles and experimented with a range of colours, textures and patterns reminiscent of marble and precious stones.”

Reform is offered in two colour palettes. Reform I combines pastel pinks and blues in patterns that mimic marbles with the metallic sheen of brass and silver. This series is made with mixed materials, including wool (in several different yarn counts and pile heights), dull silk, spun silk, flax and lurex. The handcrafting process involves various techniques, including cut and loop (in different pile heights), twisted yarn, overtuft loop and a combination of hand carving, bevelling and embossing to achieve a rich medley of texture.

Reform II features solid colour blocking in vivid hues made with a hundred per cent wool. Both series are entirely handcrafted in Tai Ping’s artisan workshop in Xiamen.

Lim considers Reform as a showcase of Tai Ping’s expertise through the juxtaposition of materials and techniques. “You really get the rug’s tactile quality with the different textures you feel under your feet,” he says.

“It is a privilege to be the first carpet maker to give Lim + Lu access to our medium,” says Stephen Wong, managing director of Tai Ping, Asia Pacific. “Our collaboration will surely resonate with new audiences.”