GoodWeave

Spotlight On: Chandra Rugs

Adairsville, Georgia

Although Ravi Tiwari grew up around the woven rug industry, it was never a foregone conclusion that he would follow in the footsteps of his father, Chandra Tiwari, then president of a successful rug company. From an impressionable age, Ravi accompanied Chandra to rug shows, where he honed an interest in design that would lead him toward work as a photographer, a painter and a web developer—and then return him to the rug industry alongside his father.

When the elder Tiwari launched his own company in 2006, Ravi signed on to lead Chandra’s licensing and product development efforts. “He’s the finance and operations guy; I’m the creative half,” says Ravi of the father-son partnership.

Wanting to help children where their rugs are made grow up with access to education and opportunity, Ravi also forged a partnership with GoodWeave. “I’ve always felt passionate about not using child labor,” says Ravi. “And the fact that GoodWeave is helping to educate kids was all the more reason to get Chandra Rugs involved.”

Chandra Rugs aims to make high design accessible, while pushing the envelope on basic elements like color, shape and texture. The company also favors natural fibers like cotton, jute and wool New Zealand wool for their hand-knotted and -tufted rugs.

Since its founding, Chandra’s rug selection has grown from 80 rug designs to more than 1,000, available in some 800 stores and through the company’s online shop. A second warehouse, recently added to Chandra’s rural Georgia headquarters, has helped the rapidly expanding company directly fulfill orders from its customers around the world.

The company currently licenses designs for its certified rugs from Inhabit Living and longstanding GoodWeave partner emma gardner design. “I love Emma’s colors and finishing; she has such an eye. Her designs are so three-dimensional,” says Ravi, naming the California-based designer’s “Russian Box” as a favorite.

While only these selected rug collections are currently GoodWeave certified, Ravi and Chandra are working to open more of their Indian suppliers up to the organization’s frequent, surprise inspections so that each and every Chandra rug can proudly bear the child-labor-free mark.

Learn more at shopchandra.com.