Carini Lang

Profile

Joseph Carini's carpet designs are thousands of miles in the making: from his studio, where a cadre of design assistants help him decide on patterns and sizes; to Nepal, where the carpets are hand-woven with wool, silk, cashmere, or mohair; then back to his showroom in Tribeca. It's not altogether different from Carini's own journey from study at the Pratt Institute to apprentice work in the Nepalese carpet industry to opening this shop with his wife, Aurelie, in 1998. His carpet designs run the gamut from muted and simple, like the beige camellia flower motif and the pale golden-red interlocking circle pattern, to bold and edgy, like the glowing green and orange silk fish scale pattern and the eye-bending field of deep blue hexagons. Custom orders are welcome, but will take three to nine months on account of the intricate handiwork. Of course, all this craftsmanship comes at a price, but the carpets also come with certification by the non-profit organization Rugmark as being made without child labor. — Andrew Cleary