Sophie Javadi-Babreh grew up surrounded by carpets. Her father Bahram started weaving at the age of four in a small village in the mountains of Northwestern Iran. It was the start of a life long passion that today sees her working alongside her father at Thames Carpets, a weaving and restoration studio which, this month, is exhibiting some of its most precious pieces in London's Sloane Club.
Bahram's story is one that demonstrates the value of hard work and know-how. Having left Iran in 1978 and settled in England, he started carpet weaving and restoration as a way to make money. When the former owner of Thames Carpets, whose workshop is based in the Oxfordshire village of Wheatley, asked him to restore a rug, he was one of the few people in the country with the skills to re-weave it and so began a partnership which, in the early 2000s, resulted in the owner passing the business to Bahram when he retired. For the past ten years Bahram has been working with Sophie, who, like her father, has a passion for both sourcing and restoring antique rugs.
Stock is sourced from Iran and Azerbaijan as well as auction houses and estate sales in the UK and Europe. ‘There is a common misconception that the best rugs come from certain countries’ says Sophie. ‘But you can find lovely options from England, India, Sweden, Turkey, Nepal and Ukraine’. The archive now extends to over 1,000 handmade rugs including mid-century, vintage Kilims, Art Deco and antique Persian rugs. Sophie and Bahram also work with weavers to create custom rugs and design their own collections which are all made from 100 per cent natural and biodegradable materials.
This month The Sloane Club will host a curated pop-up with Thames Carpets as part of ‘Woven Naratives’ a series of events exploring craft and heritage. The Magic Carpet Salon will be installed in LILA, the Sloane Club’s latest dining venue with rugs layered on the floors and displayed on the walls transforming the space into a traditional Persian tea house. ‘Rugs are meant to be lived on’ says Sophie. The Magic Carpet Salon at LILA will be open until the end of April.
