Our family has been into rugs for over 60 years. Rugs used to be the main trade in Kauhava when Arvo Syvänen established his rug mill in the early sixties.

Henri, 3rd generation rug maker (pictured in the 80s), had an aspiration to combine his family’s vast knowledge in rug making with modern aesthetics and a strive for more sustainable future.

Woven Works was born to make this aspiration come true. The goal is to create collections that are sustainable, functional and playful – in collaboration with designers who share these goals.

For us, sustainability is central for rug making. It covers both the enviromental and social aspects of what we do.

From environmental perspective, we aim to mimize resource and energy use, while creating novel and lasting products that modern consumers love. That’s not an easy task, but we think we’ve already found some guiding principles.

Using recycled materials whenever possible is the first principle. Huomenna collection is a great example of that – to our knowledge it is the first-ever design rug collection from recycled wool.

Second principle is quality & design. Patchwork and ARC collections were created from the best materials available. When you have the best material and a timeless design, your rug has an infinite life span.    

From social perspective, our guiding principle has always been to see and experience it ourselves. We travel to India at least once a year to inspect each step in the process.

Our hand-woven rugs are made in the area of a town called Sitapur, which is one of the main hubs of rug making in India. Hand-knotted rugs are made in Bhadohi, which is another rug hub close to Varanasi.

Weaving often takes place in local communities where farming is the main way of living. Thus, rug making is an important way for these communities to earn extra income and improve their living conditions. This is exactly the same what happened in Kauhava – as late as in the 80’s, every farmer used to have a weaving machine to make extra income!

We’re also in process of getting a social certification for our value chain, but we still believe that going the extra mile and visiting these communities ourselves is central to being sustainable.  

Sustainability is a journey that can never be finished.