Claire McGovern is the founder and designer behind the beautiful Irish wool rug designs of Rhyme Studio. A proud member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council USA, this New York City-based designer of interiors and natural carpet is a leading advocate for sustainability. Claire just released her brand new collection, Báinín, which debuts with three designs that celebrate the natural, untreated creamy white qualities of this highly resilient yet soft eco-fiber. With authenticity, responsible craftsmanship and provenance as cornerstones of the Rhyme Studio brand, this new collection promotes the miracle properties of Irish wool as a renewable and biodegradable material.
New works from Báinín featuring heritage Galway Wool such as “Crooked Roads”, “Real Irish Wool” and “Spiralis” echo design elements from an iconic symbol of Irish style, the Aran Sweater.
Andrew Joseph: Describe your design style as if you were explaining it to someone who cannot see.
Claire McGovern: We strive to create beautiful interiors that are designed to sustain, relax, and support health and harmony. Timeless materials such as stone, wood, natural fibers like wool and native metals offer neuroaesthetic benefits and connect us most deeply with the natural world which is particularly important for urban living. Our Irish wool carpet, tapestry and textile collections celebrate geometric and organic alternative forms and sculptural texture, using the inspiration of nature to create bold to subtle colors. We care profoundly about how things are made and their provenance and to create designs inspired by millennia of history or great stories such as the 1600-year-old Irish architectural “tree” alphabet – a carpet or tapestry design that can spell almost any word. On another note, one of our favorite stones lately (as seen in the incredible sculptures of Helen O’Connell) is Kilkenny Limestone which has a wide variety of uses as surfacing but is in essence composed of millennia of compressed marine life. This is a powerful material to have in one’s home.
Recent installation of the Infinity rug design in color-way Earthtones for New York Design Week.
AJ: What is something you hope to see trending in design in the future?
CM: We would love to see a design manufacturing and interior design world that puts sustainable and responsible design before all other agendas. A unified and universal approach to making, specifying and designing goods, finishes, interiors, systems that are responsible, healthy, carbon-negative and give back to our planet. “Made in harmony with nature” should be every designer’s goal today. Since we started making Irish wool carpet & tapestry in 2017, every day brought a new discovery about the miracle qualities of wool as a fiber. Did you know a quality wool carpet has the ability to purify the air in one’s home and that its natural anti-microbial qualities actually repel dust mites?
AJ: If you weren’t a designer, you’d be a ….?
CM: Therapist!
Where ancient architecture meets contemporary wool design, this limited edition carpet design is from The Insula Series .
AJ: What would your dream project or dream client be right now?
CM: Any client that is interested in setting themselves the challenge of creating a sustainable home is someone we want to talk to and our ideal project is a truly responsible commercial venture such as a hotel resort that considers and accounts for every single detail of its structure, operations and interiors. A carbon negative property that exists in total harmony with the surrounding landscape and is capable of generating more energy than its operations require.
AJ: How would you define your work in three words?
CM: Alternative, responsible, elegant.
Recent custom installation of “Health” from The OM Series, derived from a 1600-year-old “tree” alphabet called Ogham.
AJ: What’s inspiring you in life (in the industry) right now?
CM: So many things but to name a couple we are always interested in design that innovates objects of beauty from waste. Lately, we’ve also been galvanized by the sad realization that the global fiber market is utterly out of balance with the natural world. Wool, the original eco-fiber that nature perfected for humanity a long time ago, has largely been forsaken and misunderstood as the worldwide production of textiles and fibers today is dominated by synthetics that are of course petrochemical dependent, polluting and overall have no credible recycling concept. My studio sources traceable fleece directly from Irish farmers and works with several historic Irish woolen mills to produce a high-quality and customizable eco-fiber wool design that genuinely offers a host of interior benefits. We are also using wool now in its most natural form by eliminating the dyeing process when possible. There is no good reason for such imbalance in our world at this point – we have had the technology to create meaningful change for some time now.
AJ: What about your design style has shifted post-quarantine?
CM: We like to focus on how to do more with less these days, ways in which we can help interior clients reuse or retrofit resulting in less waste and budget savings. A fundamental principle of our design style is based on the idea of investing in natural materials and goods that are made to last which will ultimately enable us to buy less and give back more. Health and wellness in the home comes from a commitment to these ideals.
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