This year Tribe Home celebrates 10 years. With this milestone comes not only celebration but reflection and introspection.
In conversation with Tina Richards, Owner & Director of Tribe Home.
It was through the love of travelling and a passion for rugs and interior design that led, Owner and Director, Tina Richards to create the brand Tribe Home 10 years ago. Having grown up in a multicultural family in New Zealand, moving to Australia and living abroad, Tina often found herself being asked the endearing question ‘what tribe are you from?’.
To celebrate 10 years of rugs with soul we chat with Tina Richards, Owner and Director of Tribe Home, about her journey and where it all started.
What does Tribe Home mean to you?
TR: Tribe Home represents a strong feeling of connectedness - with our ancestry, with our home and belonging, with our suppliers, the extremely talented crafts people who weave our rugs, and with our clients and the like-minded people we are fortunate to meet on our journey. Although we are from different nations, we all share the need to survive and flourish.
What do you love the most about what you do?
TR: Apart from the challenge of building a brand from the ground up and the realisation that we can play a part in keeping alive an age-old skill that’s been passed down from generations, it’s a feeling that you get that can’t be explained.
It’s when you see that special piece, that rug, you just have to have it before someone else does. It’s similar to buying art, a passion, just like you see it when other people get it too. It’s about the feeling it gives you. The colours, the textures, the design must speak to you. It might have so many details that you cannot take your eyes away from it. It’s a connectedness either consciously or unconsciously. Something luxurious that you must have, it sparks something deep inside you. There is nothing like owning a beautiful handmade rug and it’s that passion that we want to share with our clients and their customers.
What is new this season?
TR: It’s an exciting and challenging time. Our Tracing the Past collection was launched recently, and we are so proud of the images captured by photographer Dylan James and stylist Karin Bochnik at the Establishment studios. Tracing the past is a journey to uncover the connections between East and West and is the theme behind our latest collection of Overdyed Persian Vintage Rugs. This has to rate as one of my favourite campaigns to date. The photoshoot and campaign is where everything comes together and really gives these amazing Vintage carpets the spotlight they deserve.
In terms of our programmed rugs, each collection has a voice and our textured capsule within our new 21/22 collection is no different. Shot on location in country Victoria, it’s inspired by the simplistic ideal of returning to nature, slowing down in the cooler months in Australia. A photo shoot not only sets the scene, but it also sets the pace. This capsule is full of glorious textures and weaves - all natural and woolly. Texture is an important part of what we do. The Elle and Isla rugs that form part of this capsule, bring a dash of colour to liven things up. It’s hard to pick one favourite!
We also have new colourways in our beloved Casablanca rug that are featured in our new 21/22 Collection that are a standout, as well as a few other pieces that are a part of our new collection that will be releasing shortly that we are excited about for their versatility.
What’s next for Tribe Home?
TR: Bolstering our next phase in our journey we are opening our first flagship showroom in Melbourne later this month. This is such an exciting time for the team. It’s a long held dream coming to fruition and we can’t wait to welcome all our clients to this beautiful new space. We will of course be bringing you more beautiful Tribe Home rugs and carpets, as well as working on charitable causes. Post-Covid we are continually researching additional ways that we can offer and provide as much support as we can to the countries we are fortunate to work with.
Long-term, we are continuing to build on and further our mission to preserve the craft of handmade rugs globally whilst contributing to the welfare of those in carpet weaving regions. Additionally, a big thing on our minds is travel and reconnecting with all the wonderful people around the world that have been part of our 10 year journey.
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