Rug Star MAGAZINE 02.2 - Intimacy Berlin | The 120 PILLOWS Project

RUG STAR MAGAZINE 

I N T I M A C Y B E R L I N 

№ 02.2 

The 

120 PILLOWS 

Project

SEE ME, HUG ME, LOVE ME 

Welcome everyone to the revised second issue of 

RUG STAR Magazine featuring INTIMACY BERLIN 

Volume 02.2 and the 120 PILLOWS project. 

I felt blessed, with INTIMACY BERLIN. I have 

finally created the perfect communication tool to 

show how my rug designs blossom in real living 

situations and the magazine is the right frame to 

show these pictures. 

We find all of the homes by requesting assistance 

from friends, so the home owners are not paid for 

letting us photograph our rugs in their living space. 

Instead, we cook for them and teach them about 

the joy and love we have for this craftsmanship. So 

far all interiors have been exclusively shot by the 

Berlin-based photographer Michael Tewes. 

We have visited 30 homes of friends over the last 2.5 

years, where 260 of our rugs have been photographed 

and we are grateful and happy to see that we have 

been able to establish a fresh and unique way of 

how to communicate the beauty and identity of hand 

knotted area rugs. 

A special thanks goes to my dear friend Kolja Stegemann 

and his company www.suite030.com for hosting 

me and my team several times in one of their 

extraordinary luxurious homes in the heart of Berlin. 

In 2018 we hope to continue this beautiful 

project in Bergamo, Italy with my dearest friend 

Michele Cobelli, in Portland, Oregon USA with our 

beloved Christiane Millinger and in Beijing, China 

with my buddy Ma Jin. 

The journey we started with this project will 

continue. 

Last but not least, I am more than excited to introduce 

to you our 120 PILLOWS project. 120 pillows, 

manufactured all by hand in Berlin, all knitted by 

my dear friend and design icon Claudia Skoda, all 

truly one of a kind textile sculptures with a clear 

message: 

SEE ME, HUG ME, LOVE ME. 

Jürgen Dahlmanns, 

founder and creative head of RUG STAR

INTIMACY BERLIN 02.2 001 

Spot No. 02 

Copper & Mauve 

hand knotted Persian weave 

30 % finest silk

002 RUG STAR MAGAZINE 

1956 No. 05 

Pink 


70 % finest silk


Hunter No. 01 

GreyMix + GreyMix 


70 % finest silk


NewClassic Reverse Kava Bagh 

Charcoal 


85 % finest silk


IsfahanWoods Tibetan 

ECO Random 1796 + ECO Random 1797 

hand knotted Tibetan weave 

75 % finest silk


NewClassic Azerbaijan 

Grey Mix 


70 % finest silk


Honey 

DeepPurple 


70 % finest silk



HarvestGold & LightBlue 


40 % finest silk


NewClassic Reverse Pine Garden 

LightPink 


85 % finest silk


No Honey No. 01 

MidNightBlue 


70 % finest silk



LightBlue & Copper + MultiColor 


40 % finest silk


Hummingbirds No. 02 

Black 

H 850 Luxury Tuft 

in viscose, 

wool and silk available


Orchid No. 01 

Blue 


in viscose, 



Orchid No. 02 

Black 


in viscose, 



DNA India Elephants 

Original 


30% finest silk


NewClassic Reverse Tabriz 

EmperorYellow 


85 % finest silk

INTIMACY BERLIN 02.2 

017 

Tiger 

Original 


75 % finest silk 

Eden Two Monkeys 

Original 



Eden Deer Head 

Original 


30 % finest silk


FerahanSplash 

Turquoise 


30 % finest silk


Mono Supreme No. 15 

SlicedInside on LightGrey 


80 % finest silk


Lines No. 01 

Original 


35 % finest silk


Spot No. 02 

BlueGrey 


30 % finest silk


Koi No. 05 

SandyBeach 


in viscose, 



Delft Supreme Three Birds 

Yellow 



Damast Royal ECO 

OliveGreen, Neon GrassGreen 


40 % finest silk


Spot Supreme No. 02 

Olive&Mauve 


100 % finest silk


025 

NewClassic Isfahan 

DeepPurple 


70 % finest silk


Jellyfish AllOver No. 01 

OldRose 


in viscose, 



NewClassic Tabriz 

Colourful on LightBlue Denim 

H 650 Luxury Tuft


Waterlily No. 03 

GreyMagenta 


70 % finest silk


Rajasthan ZeroPile No. 01 Runner 

ExEyeCandyPink 


65 % finest silk


Isfahan Block 

MidNightBlue Copper 


30 % finest silk


031 

Delft Blue Lemon 

Original 


40 % finest silk


IsfahanWoods 

SoftBlue 


30 % finest silk

INTIMACY BERLIN 02.2 033


Folding Sky Supreme No. 03 

Multi CyanCopper 


100 % finest silk


NewClassic Reverse Kava Bagh 

EmperorYellow 


85 % finest silk


Eden No. 12 

B&W 


40 % finest silk


Orchid No. 01 

TiredBlue 


30 % finest silk


Jellyfish AllOver No. 01 

Turquoise 


in viscose, 



I Love You 

Original 


in viscose, 



1956 No. 02 

Original 


70 % finest silk


Black No. 01 + 02 

B&W 


30 % finest silk


Koi No. 05 

BondiBlack 


in viscose, 



043 

Circle No. 03 

B&W 



Circle No. 01 

B&W 


50 % finest silk


A Day and a Kite Supreme No. 03 

Mauve 


100 % finest silk


Waterlily No. 03 

GreyGreen 


70 % finest silk


Rajasthan ZeroPile No. 01 

ExElectricBlue 


65 % finest silk


Eden Clara 

Original 


15 % finest silk


Embrace Me 

Skin of Light No. 04 Runner 


40 % finest silk


049 

Sacred ECO No. 05 

Cream on DarkGreyMauve 



Sacred No. 01 

Original 


40 % finest silk


Koi No. 05 

Pool 


in viscose, 



Feathers Mr. Big 

Pastel 1 


30 % finest silk


NewClassic Teheran 

MidNightBlue 


65 % finest silk


053 


ExDeepPurple 



Rajasthan ZeroPile Supreme No. 10 

CreamEyeCandyPink 


100 % finest silk


Aubusson No. 04 

Original 


70 % finest silk


Mameluk 

DeepPurple 


70 % finest silk



LightPink 



NewClassic Reverse Teheran 

LightBlue 


85 % finest silk



Charcoal 


85 % finest silk


Rajasthan No. 13 

ElectricBlue on NaturalGrey 


65 % finest silk


Jellyfish No. 02 

FadedYellow on Blue 


in viscose, 



Eden Red Flower 

Original 


in viscose, 



Persia No. 01 

Strawberry 


35 % finest silk



ECO Random 1796 


60 % finest silk


Black Supreme No. 01 

B&W 


100 % finest silk


Splash Supreme No. 01 

AllNatural Pink 


70 % finest silk


Splash Supreme No. 3C 

AllNatural Pink 


70 % finest silk


Block Supreme No. 03 

Pink on DarkGrey 


100 % finest silk


067 

Painting Hamaca II by Franek 

White Monkey 

Epos No. 02 

Color 


35 % finest silk


Ikat Dragon No. 05 

ElectricBlue, Fringe Mix 


70 % finest silk

INTIMACY BERLIN 02.2 069


IsfahanWoods 

MultiColor 


30 % finest silk


071 

Eden Grasshopper 

GreyBlue 


25 % finest silk


Delft Supreme Three Apples 

Peach 


100 % finest silk


Orchid No. 03 

Black 


in viscose, 


074 RUG STAR MAGAZINE


075 

Koi No. 02 

Blue on MidNightBlue 


50 % finest silk


Margareth 

DeepPurple 


70 % finest silk



ExDeepPurple 


65 % finest silk


NewClassic Reverse Mughal 

EmperorYellow 


85 % finest silk


Splash Supreme No. 06 

AllNatural LightBlue 


70 % finest silk

080 

RUG STAR MAGAZINE 

Mono Supreme No. 07 

OldRose on LightSilver 


100 % finest silk


Dresden 

Mauve 


in viscose, 


082 RUG STAR MAGAZINE


SEE ME, LOVE ME, HUG ME 

by Roxana Florina Popa, publisher of the 

online magazine Customers4Fashion. 

We are all looking for sources of life and designers 

who can truly generate life into their products are 

few. This is a challenge that only the brightest and 

the most ingenious can make it shine. 

Besides beauty, playfullness and harmony, 

CLAUDIA SKODA and JÜRGEN DAHLMANNS 

meant to bring to the world creations that breathe 

and spread energy and love around them. 

Claudia Skoda, the famous and influential knitwear 

designer from Berlin and Jürgen Dahlmanns, the 

founder of Rug Star – the global design carpet label 

born in Berlin and the winner of numerous prizes at 

the Domotex Fair, decided to intersect their valuable 

experiences in fashion and interior design in order to 

create for the home textile area. Their first creation 

is what they call “a playlist” of 120 pillows. The two 

resourceful designers are also very good friends in 

real life. 

Claudia Skoda, who founded her fashion label in 

1975, has remained curious and creative in the fashion 

field for over 40 years. Young designers orient 

themselves based on her fashion innovations and they 

highly value her advice. 

Made by the hands of Claudia Skoda, the pillows are 

in reality the result of life-time experimentation with 

yarn and unique knitting techniques. Patterns such as 

“Kaviar“, “Spa“, “Mama Whale“, “This Way“ and 

“Exit” to a bright sunlight, “Dress well” and “Satellite 

City” make you fall in love with their lightness, 

sunny mood and good humour. They were imagined 

to immediately uplift the atmosphere of your house 

and bring fresh modernity to any interior setting. 

Their colour vibration is where the two designers 

come very close in the creative process.


Interview with the designers CLAUDIA SKODA 

and JÜRGEN DAHLMANNS 

Roxana Florina Popa: Looking at your invitation on Facebook, 

seeing pillows flying up in the air and the number 120, made me 

think of Nena’s song “99 Luftballons” and of children’s pillow 

fights. What is the spirit of this event in Berlin? 

Jürgen Dahlmanns: Our 120 PILLOWS project is a celebration 

in diversity, beauty, love and friendship. So you are right, our 

first picture to introduce our cooperation has this private emotion 

of joy and it reflects our working method to be a happening 

and a laboratory to find beauty. 

I met Claudia Skoda 15 years ago when I opened my first shop 

in Berlin Mitte. My work people know by now under the brand 

name RUG STAR. We have been neighbours in the beginning 

and we developed a deep friendship over the last 15 years. 

Claudia is my raw model, not only in her work, but also in her 

positive reflection and attitude in daily live. We are two different 

generations, I get 50 soon and Claudia is one generation ahead. 

But looking at her, I mostly think I am the older one. Her mind is 

vibrant, open and colourful and always a step more progressive 

than mine. Imagine this: I always thought that my creative mind 

is a stormy river, but beside Claudia it appears tender and smooth, 

more a summer sunny forest lake. 

Birchman No. 01 

60 cm x 90 cm 

RFP: The 120 Pillows event is a fruit of your friendship. How did 

friends and designers CLAUDIA SKODA and JÜRGEN DAHL- 

MANSS work together on this project? 

JD: We have something in common; most of our work can be reflected 

as our diary. We both express ourselves with the patterns 

and the colour combinations we use on a textile surface. I think 

our understanding of the use of colours for particular designs is 

very close; here is the deeper connection in the profession. 

Claudia is executing this for 40 years already in fashion and I 

have been executing this for 15 years in interior design, which is 

my hand-knotted rugs area. 

My goal is to extend my work, which at the moment is only concentrated 

on floor covering, also into the fields of home textiles. 

On the other side, Claudia has reached a point in her life where 

she wants her pattern language to be part of interior and architecture, 

too, since her patterns always had a strong architectural 

layer. 

Stream No. 01 

50 cm x 70 cm 

Bamboo No. 02 

60 cm x 90 cm 

So, in April this year, I offered her to start an open project, 

where we do not consider the final result. Of course, the item 

“pillow” was first set, but I denied any boundaries or goals in 

terms of volume, price calculation, distribution structure or final 

position on the market. I only wanted her to start talking 

with her knitting texture on field, so that we can later show it 

in the interior design. Slowly, we invented the pillow sizes: 

50 cm x 70 cm, 60 cm x 90 cm and 65 cm x 100 cm. 

In a second step, we set up a structure to manufacture all in Berlin, 

so it is a truly handmade Berlin product. Only in the last 8 

weeks, have we understood the final product, made the first costs 

calculation and considered to invent a distribution structure according 

to these facts. We understood that we had created textile 

sculptures with a one-of-a-kind attitude. In the next step,we want 

to create a service for interior designers to make “Playlists” of 

pillows that we will especially design for each living situation. 

RFP: In pupils’ folklore, putting the school book under the pillow 

at night helped them know the lessons the next day before 

the teacher; nowadays’ political figures are offered armchairs 

equipped with pillows in TV talks; in Oriental countries, pillows 

decorated rich people’s houses and the more pillows they had, 

the more they were seen as generous; deep confessions are easily 

made around a pillow talk; they even replace a remote beloved 

person. 

What kind of magic do Claudia Skoda’s pillows do? 

JD: I tested some of the pillows on my sofa lately and I can tell 

you that the process of the pillows works like this: 

SEE ME, HUG ME AND LOVE ME. 

They have their own strong personality, but are soft and tender. 

To female friends with man trouble, I recommend a couple of the 

big size pillows as a good option for the next cold winter months 

ahead. 

Reflecting on the magic: there is another personality in our pillows 

different from what you normally find on the pillows market. 

They have been invented in another attitude, so their appea-


rance is different from other products. 

It is already my philosophy – that I build and reflect in my rugs 

– that the production process is part of the vibration of the product: 

If you only think about producing items to be consumed, you forget 

to give them a soul. If you think about product development 

with the purpose to match a price point, you forget the soul. If you 

ask different questions, they will lead you to different answers. 

This is the magic we have in the pillows, we believe in adding 

soul into our products due to how we work. 

RFP: What kind of knitting technique did you choose and why? 

What materials are the pillows made of? How long does it take 

to make 120 pillows? Which were the essential tools in their creation? 

Claudia Skoda: As I wanted to work not only with traditional 

knitting and handcraft, Jürgen and I agreed on knitting pictures 

for this first project. They are knitted on the knitting machine 

on flatbed Jacquard. The challenge consisted most of all in the 

concept I designed based on my long experience in fashion. The 

pillow is the ideal medium to express my patterns and imagery 

which in fashion can be applied only to a limited extent. Not 

every person accepts this visual vocabulary on his or her own 

body, but they accept it in their homes. 80% of the pillows are 

made of high-tech cotton yarn with a nylon thread. I worked on 

this pillows project from January until October, including checks 

in between. 

RFP: What inspired your pillow patterns? 

Chaos No. 02 

65 cm x 100 cm 

CS: Fashion, music, art and unseen pattern on air. 

RFP: Rug Star has always been very innovative in weaving 

techniques and materials. 2016 saw hand-tufted creations complementing 

the very well known hand-knotted Tibetan and Persian 

weave. 

What does it mean for a business to introduce a new technique in 

terms of time and arriving at a successful innovation? What caused 

this new direction? Which are the advantages that hand-tufting 

offers? 

JD: In the first 7 years of my work with Rug Star, I was exclusively 

working in the hand-knotted Tibetan area rug. After 7 years 

of innovation, I felt confident to add a new product and so, for 

the next 7 years I started innovating the Persian hand-knotted 

rug. It might be my cycles, because for the next 7 years I started 

with the tuft technique. 

Mushroom No. 02 

60 cm x 90 cm 

It is not a hand-knotted rug, as the dimension of the parallel process 

of weaving and knotting is missing. In the product category 

of tuft, a little gun is shooting the fibre into an exciting fabric, 

where the outlines have been drawn and the fields are slowly 

filled with different colours, material and mixtures. 

As an architect, I always understood the architectural dimension 

of rugs. Thanks to the hand-knotted rug, we established a beautiful 

system to make customised productions for our clients all 

over the world. 

The project business sometimes requests bigger volume or shorter 

delivery times, for example, for high-end hotels. Here, the 

hand-knotted rug of the quality we are producing has no real 

market and I was never interested in quick and cheap hand-knotted 

rugs. 

The tuft is an excellent product to fit into this request and I am 

happy that we managed already in such a short time to set up an 

amazing collection in tuft which we will launch in January 2017 

in Hannover at the Domotex Fair. 

RFP: Do you consider taking distance online orders from clients 

who are not in Berlin on the occasion of the “120 Pillows” Event 

on the 4th of December? 

JD: We managed to build up a distribution system in 30 countries 

for our customised rugs. I am very positive that we will manage 

in the long term the goal to offer our truly unique pillows 

in the same way. I have already requests from the Middle East, 

China and the USA. We start setting up the next structure soon 

and I am very curious where it will lead us to.


Eden Dragonfly 

Original 


25 % finest silk


087 

120 PILLOWS 

SEE ME_ HUG ME_ LOVE ME 

120 truly one of a kind pillows_ all hand made in 

Berlin_ all knitted by the design icon Claudia Skoda 

herself exclusively for Rug Star_ all as a truly one of 

a kind textile sculpture. 

SIZES 

TALL_ 50 cm x 70 cm 

GRANDE_ 60 cm x 90 cm 

VENTI_ 65 cm x 100 cm 

FILLING 

FEATHERS_ single filled (HUG ME) 

or double filled (SEE ME) 

ANTI ALLERGIC 

PLAYLIST 

We offer the service PLAYLIST to design and produce 

a truly one of a kind set of pillows matching each individual 

interior _ an extraordinary service we offer 

to all our traders and interior designers_ the order 

has to be a minimum set of 6 pillows_ we only need 

your personal PLAYLIST_ a compilation the once 

you love most out of the 120 and we start our work to 

create a unique new set of truly one of a kind textile 

sculptures for you. 

Big City No. 02 

60 cm x 90 cm


PLAYLIST_ 20 of 120 

Birch No. 04 

50 cm x 70 cm 

Relief No. 01 

60 cm x 90 cm 

Taxi No. 01 

50 cm x 70 cm 

Mama Whale No. 01 

60 cm x 90 cm 

Monkey No. 01 

60 cm x 90 cm 

Bush On Fire No. 01 

60 cm x 90 cm 

Schwefel No. 04 

50 cm x 70 cm 

Big City No. 01 

60 cm x 90 cm 

Hôô Hôô Hôô No. 02 

60 cm x 90 cm 

Mushroom No. 01 

65 cm x 100 cm 

Banner No. 01 

60 cm x 90 cm 

Exit No. 01 

50 cm x 70 cm 

Uranga No. 01 

50 cm x 70 cm 

Snail Pod No. 02 

50 cm x 70 cm 

Rooster Talk No. 02 

65 cm x 100 cm 

Alice No. 01 

65 cm x 100 cm 

Die Fliege No. 01 

50 cm x 70 cm 

Delft No. 03 

65 cm x 100 cm 

Gingko No. 01 

60 cm x 90 cm 

Popeye No. 01 

65 cm x 100 cm


Folding Sky Supreme No. 03 

Multi CyanCopperOrange 


100 % finest silk


NewClassic Reverse Tabriz 

Pink 


85 % finest silk


Hummingbirds No. 02 

Blue 


30 % finest silk


Orchid No. 01 

MauveGrey 


30 % finest silk


Johnny No. 01 

Original on White 


in viscose, 



NewClassic Mughal 

Colourful on Purple Denim 


in viscose, 



NewClassic Mughal 

Colourful on Red Denim 


in viscose, 



RUG STAR 

by Jürgen Dahlmanns 

Copyrights 2018 | Jürgen Dahlmanns | www.rugstar.com

RUG STAR SHOWROOMS 

RUG STAR BERLIN 

Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 27 

10178 Berlin | Germany 

Fon: + 49 (0)30 30 87 54 47 

Mail: info@rugstar.com 

www.rugstar.com 

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Zeuggasse 5 

86150 Augsburg | Germany 

Fon: +49 (0)821 455 06 30 

Mail: augsburg@rugstar.com 

www.rugstar-augsburg.de 

RUG STAR STUTTGART 

Am Schillerplatz 4 

71522 Backnang | Germany 

Fon: +49 (0)7191 911 2226 

Mail: kontakt@sorgcarpet.de 

www.rugstar-stuttgart.de 

RUG STAR ZÜRICH 

Zweierstrasse 25 

8004 Zürich | Switzerland 

Fon: +41 44 450 31 51 

Mail: zuerich@rugstar.ch 

RUG STAR VIENNA 

Dorotheergasse 5 

1010 Wien | Austria 

Fon: +43 664 325 70 09 

Mail: omar@adil-besim.at 

RUG STAR ITALIA 

Via Sant’Orsola 10 

24122 Bergamo | Italy 

Fon:+39 035222234 

Mail: michele@rugstar.it 

Photo by Pooya Nabei 

RUG STAR VANCOUVER 

200-495 Railway St. 

Vancouver, BC V6A 1A7 | Canada 

Fon: +1604 708 0170 

Mail: meghan@jmrepublic.com

Desire became addiction, right now I can say I am a 100% RUG ADDICT. 

www.rugstar.com

Rug Star MAGAZINE 02.2 - Intimacy Berlin | The 120 PILLOWS Project

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