Kasthall: Old World Craftsmanship + Contemporary Design

In 1887, Ludvig Andersson, the founder of luxury rug company Kasthall, went to Germany and saw the future. The industrial revolution was in a far more advanced state there than in Sweden, where Andersson was studying weaving technology. He immediately grasped the importance of it all: Everything about how products would and could be made was about to change.

Returning to Sweden, he sprung into action, creating  the country’s first industrial rug company, Ludvig Anderssons Mattor, in 1889. A dozen years later, he moved the whole operation to a specially constructed (and electrified) factory in Kinna, a town about 60 miles southeast of Gothenberg. The site was in an area called Kasthall, giving his company the name it has to this day.

All of Kasthall’s rugs are still crafted from natural materials in that Kinna factory, with the wool sourced from New Zealand and linen from Normandy. Each finished covering is thoroughly examined in-house before receiving a hand-signed label, marking it as being of the utmost quality through to the last thread. The majority of the woven and hand-tufted styles are designed in-house. But the company also collaborates with a handful of renowned architects and design talents, including Ilse Crawford, David Chipperfield, and Claesson Koivisto Rune.

The brand’s combination of elegance, craftsmanship, and contemporary design is encapsulated in its recently opened New York flagship. Designed by Kasthall’s team, the space is open and airy, with a gallery-like feel. Rugs hang from the ceiling like tapestries, with textured swatches and spools of yarn providing tactile and colorful introductions to the pieces. It’s a sensory experience that envelops you. Ludvig Andersson would have approved.