Kinna is a locality in southern Sweden that lends its name to Kinnasand, a textile company whose history in the region dates back more than 200 years. In recent years Creative Director Isa Glink – whose honours include the ICFF Editors Award and the Red Dot Design Award – has been steering the collections back and forth between art and design with projects that take a strong experimental and graphic approach to express classic Nordic motifs. They are committed to producing their textiles in Europe, using the best weaving mills, dye works, and printers in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and Sweden.
Kinnasand carpets are hand-woven and hand-knitted from raw New Zealand wool and other natural materials, and their curtains are consistently redefining the interplay of textures, patterns, opacity, and movement. Faces, a recent collection of carpets and curtains, combines these elements to provide both visual and tactile experiences that play on multiple senses. Furthermore, Kinnasand look to both the future and the past for guidance in production and design; their collection Hemp is made from bits of antique carpets woven in, and works as a piece of living history.
In 2014, Kinnasand partnered with Pritzker Prize-winning architect Toyo Ito to develop the concept for their flagship showroom in Milan. The result is a surreal and interactive space that pays homage to both the company’s Nordic roots and the appeal to the senses inherent in textiles. Beyond the consistently high-calibre concepts and designs from the brand, some of their strength comes from being adaptable to a changing economy. Since 2012 Kinnasand has been owned by Danish textiles brand Kvadrat, a partnership welcomed by both as natural way to expand their horizons.