With their saturated Côte d’Azur colours and Modernist motifs, La Manufacture Cogolin has seduced the world of design for over a hundred years from their artisanal workshop near Saint-Tropez. Cultural Union speaks to their managing and creative director Sarah Henry about their storied heritage and innovative future.
It used to be said that paintings were art for people who couldn’t afford tapestries. And while that possibly hasn’t been true since the Renaissance, the fact that rugs continue to be such signifiers of good taste is because of companies such as La Manufacture Cogolin, the Côte d’Azur atelier that has spent the past 100 years supplying the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Picasso, Karl Lagerfeld and the White House.
The carpets woven on the traditional looms in the Cogolin workshop are spectacular: note the 3D geometric modernism of the Jardin range in vibrant, super-saturated colours; or the turquoise and gold elegance of Personnalités by Elliott Barnes. These are not neutral pieces – they are pieces that create the aesthetic weather, and it’s easy to see why they’ve had such a following among generations of design cognoscenti.
La Manufacture Cogolin was founded in 1924, using traditional looms from the 19th century. One of the most surprising aspects of its early days is quite how rapidly the provincial atelier grabbed the world’s attention, presenting at Paris’s prestigious International Exhibition of Decorative Arts within just five years, and with commissions for the famed ocean liner SS Normandie by 1935.
“There weren’t many companies doing that kind of work at the time,” explains Sarah Henry, the Francophile American who has spent a decade at Cogolin’s helm. “And it was a close-knit community, so if you made a strong presentation at the International Exhibition, you could make a name for yourself.” Contributing to this early success was the atelier’s sale in 1928 to Jean Lauer, a scion of a well-established textile family. “Their connections and reputation helped the company grow rapidly,” she says.
Cogolin’s weaves are striking and recognisable, and from the beginning, the atelier was notable for blending techniques – combining Eastern influences with French Savonnerie. “The feel of the rugs is different,” says Henry. “The knots, the texture, the graphic style. Later, Mediterranean influences like Spanish or Sicilian knots found their way into our work – which look a lot like the woven rugs we make today.”
This hybrid sensibility continues to define Cogolin’s aesthetic, particularly in its signature Jacquard rugs, which are characterised by patterns woven directly into the fabric using a special Jacquard loom rather than printed or embroidered onto it. “When you’re weaving, it’s like working with grid paper,” explains Henry. “The geometric look people associate with us today comes from the loom itself. And when we began working with David Hicks, who was famously into squares, that really locked in our style.”
Hicks, the celebrated 20th-century British interior designer, is just one of an enviable list of artistic collaborations that stud Cogolin’s history – including Jean Cocteau, Christian Bérard and Fernand Léger. “Some of these were one-offs or small editions, and we still get requests from galleries and auction houses for documentation,” says Henry. “Luckily, our archive is meticulous.”
Under Henry’s direction, the Cogolin archive has become a rich resource to explore and seek inspiration. “We’ve reissued rugs from our Modernist and Art Deco periods, including designs from the SS Normandie,” she says. “We also continue to collaborate with contemporary designers like India Mahdavi. These partnerships stretch our creative and technical boundaries.”
Henry cites the challenges involved in Mahdavi’s 2014 collection as an example. “We weave in panels 77 centimetres wide. India wanted to create wider panels that fit together to form a single design,” she says. “Our Jacquard mechanisms date back to the 1880s, so we had to retrofit the looms with more modern Jacquard mechanisms from the 1920s – which is still not super-current, but for us, that’s modern technology – to make it possible.” It all worked beautifully, however, and she adds: “When someone asks you to do something you’ve never done before, it helps you move forward – still within what is authentically related to our brand, but it pushes our ability, which is great.”
“We had to retrofit more modern Jacquard mechanisms from the 1920s – which is still not super-current, but for us that’s modern technology”
Sarah Henry, Managing and Creative Director, La Manufacture Cogolin
A major aspect of Cogolin’s strength and appeal is that their southern French home is not just a location – it’s an immutable part of their DNA. “Our perspective on colour takes a lot from the 1930s to the 50s, but it’s also very influenced by the region around us,” says Henry. “The colours of the flowers, the colours in the sea, all the different greens you see in the mountains.”
There is also a relaxed Mediterranean sophistication about Cogolin. “Our rugs are found in Park Avenue apartments, but they’re not silk, they’re not shiny,” she says. “They are much more understated, which is very much part of our south of France roots.”
While Cogolin is clear about its roots, it also continues to evolve – developing new offerings and reintroducing product categories such as fabrics. Collaborations also remain important – particularly as the majority of their sales are through interior designers. “We tend to work with people we already know,” Henry says. “The relationships grow organically, and often, a custom piece leads to a full collection. That was the case with the fashion designer Julie Wascheul, after her residency with us.”
Last year marked the centenary for the atelier – a major milestone which they honoured with the publication of a beautiful book published by Albin Michel titled La Manufacture Cogolin: A Century of Rug Making in the Gulf of Saint Tropez. “We wanted to mark the occasion properly,” Henry says. “The book contextualises what we do, and designers have even gifted it to clients to help them understand the legacy behind the rugs. It’s not just a product; it’s a piece of history.”
Looking ahead, Cogolin is expanding archival reissues aligned with the Art Deco centenary. “We’re bringing back garden-inspired pieces by Origenes from the 1930s, and also Modernist rugs from the 1960s and 70s with a higher pile,” Henry reveals. “We also have new fabric lines underway, and some exciting collaborations simmering.”
For Henry, it always comes back to craft and community. “It’s not just about design. It’s about sustaining traditional skills and supporting local employment,” she says. “These are skills passed down from generation to generation. All of the training is done right there in the centre of the village. When people choose authenticity over something copied cheaply off a sample, they not only get a vastly better product, but it help preserve entire ecosystems of knowledge.”
It’s an important differentiator in an increasingly crowded market. “Our strength is in our authenticity,” she says. “We’re Modernist in our style. We have a specific colour palette. And all our woven rugs are still made in the south of France.
“We’ll never be huge and we don’t want to be. But we aim to offer something truly different.”