Orb carpets by Milla Novo

Textile designer Milla Novo’s installation at Edit Napoli in October included a range of rugs made by Moooi Carpets

The large scale macrame work of Dutch designer Milla Novo has previously been featured in COVER (see issue 51) . Her grand and glamorous wall-hangings have lifted the craft of macrame from visions of the bohemian 70s to a new level of appreciation. Now adorning the walls of many high-end contemporary interior spaces from restaurants and yoga retreats to private homes—often depicted in dramatic gold, black or bright colours— the rope designs have a completely new aesthetic. 

‘I’m not a big fan of the bohemian hippy image that macrame has. So when I started to create wall-hangings I wanted statement items with structure,’ Novo explains. ‘I noticed that my big black wall-hangings were statement items on white walls. So that’s when I decided that I want to demonstrate that these wall-hangings with the dusty macrame image are stunning in modern and high-end interiors.’

For her installation at Edit Napoli in Naples in October (29-31), Novo included her wall-hangings alongside a new collection of printed rugs, made by Moooi Carpets. Titled, Orb, the rugs illustrate a detail of the knotting technique done in metallic ropes from her wall-hangings. The patterns and designs she uses in her work take inspiration from the Mapuche people of south-central Chile in South America, where Novo’s mother lives. She turns traditional symbols and meanings into contemporary works of art. About the rugs she comments: ‘The orb is other worldly, mysteries and full of positive energy.’