Madeline Weinrib x Kashmir Loom: A Conversation on Rethinking Craft for a Contemporary World
In the 18th century, French textile traders journeyed to Kashmir for its legendary shawls, which soon became coveted in Europe. These prized pieces were often gifted in papier-mâché boxes, fascinating western collectors as much as the textiles they held.
Papier-mâché itself had reached Kashmir centuries earlier, introduced in the 15th century. Known locally as Kari Qalamdani (literally “pencase craft”), it was originally reserved for making pen stands before expanding to a wide range of objects, from decorative ornaments to finely worked furniture.
From Kashmir to the World
In 2024, a new papier-mâché collection began to take shape, blending inspirations from different parts of the world into beautifully decorated objects, crafted in the valley.
New-York based textile designer Madeline Weinrib has a long-standing relationship
with Kashmir Loom. Their collaboration began with the MET Museum’s The Heirloom Project (2022), where Kashmir
Loom created a range of Merino wool scarves with chain-stitch embroidery, shaped by Madeline’s
artistic vision.
Since then, the partnership has only grown. Madeline continued to design with Kashmir Loom and its artisans, drawing on old-world patterns and textiles and reinterpreting them for today. With regional craftsmanship always central to her work, this philosophy resonated deeply with Kashmir Loom.
When Madeline turned to the richly patterned Iznik tiles of Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace, it inspired a new papier-mâché collection with Kashmir Loom. With her signature sensibility, she refined the essence of these historic motifs into a range of objects, updating Kashmir’s centuries-old craft for modern homes while keeping its authenticity intact.
Meet the Designer
The collection features boxes, candle stands, and bangles, each handcrafted in Kashmir and shipped to museum stores worldwide. In this conversation, Madeline reflects on her design journey, her inspirations, and why preserving handcraft remains essential.
Do you remember your first visit to the Topkapi Palace?
I was already familiar with the beauty of the Topkapi Palace before my first visit in 1998. I now look back on that trip as one of the highlights of my travel life — and the beginning of my love affair with Istanbul.
Even more exciting was when the design team for the Topkapi Palace store contacted me to collaborate on my museum store projects. I considered this collaboration to be a great honor.
How did the idea for papier-mâché boxes come about?
It was my work with Kashmir Loom that brought me to papier-mâché. I began to explore the crafts of the region and thought papier-mâché was a beautiful, humble craft that had lost its way in a modern world. I started to visualize how this traditional craft of Kashmir could be rethought for a new world.
I was inspired by the all-over patterning of the Iznik tiles and it felt like the right fit for the papier-mâché objects.
Your design aesthetic blends motifs, textures, and artistic traditions from different parts of the world. When did this fascination begin?
Truly this fascination began when I started designing rugs and began to think much more about historical motifs and how they could relate to a new design world.
In a world increasingly driven by automation, why do you feel it’s important to hold on to traditional methods?
I think this is an important question and I think what worries me about the world as a designer is the impact of globalization upon the uniqueness of our different cultures. By holding on to traditional methods, we maintain the touch, the feel, the humanity, and the story. Each design object becomes a treasure versus something massproduced.
Really this is not something I thought about until recently as a witness to globalization; then it became important to me, and how we relate to each other is important to me. I wasn’t expecting this shift, it was not something I saw coming. It’s a challenge for small businesses around the globe to survive. I have been able to step back and see the impact, even on how it affected my work and how I approached my designs and how they functioned in the world.
In what ways does Kashmir Loom align with your design sensibilities?
I started making rugs in the late 90s which brought about my interest in how East/West aesthetics can relate and work together. Jenny Housego and Asaf Ali founded Kashmir Loom around the same time and shared the same interest in how ideas, techniques, craft and culture relate in the East and West.
I have been working with the Kashmir Loom team now for several years and there is a mutual interest in collaboration and design, and a respect for what we each bring to the projects.
Can you walk us through your design process?
Collaboration has become a very important part of my design process, it allows me to explore different cultures and see how I interpret them. In many ways, I feel like a chef when I am collaborating. To be a chef when all spices are available is very exciting and the same is true for collaborating on designs that blend various cultures and ideas
Creatively, my world opens up by learning more about my collaborator’s world. This feeds me more than anything; it’s all new to me. When I collaborate, I benefit from new perspectives which can change you and bring new things to your work. Mixing ideas from different cultures and putting them together in a new way- that is what modern design is for me.
Museum Quality
This collection of handcrafted objects is available at the newly refreshed Michéle and Steven Pesner Book and Gift Shop at the Parrish Art Museum.
They can also be found at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
