Following the opening of a beautiful new store in Parnell, Auckland we chat to the ever so talented Olivia Smith, founder of Nodi. This week we're discussing the evolution of her brand, career highlights, Italian influence and more. Olivia's appreciation of nature, timeless design and craftsmanship is reflected seamlessly in all of her hand-made creations. Cooper Interiors favourites include the Twill Throw and the Braided Jute Natural Rug.
How did Nodi Rugs begin? It begun in my mind I guess a long time before it was actualised! I was living in Milan making hand knotted fabric necklaces whilst studying textile design there to make some extra money as a student. I became really fascinated with the process involved in making these necklaces by hand - it was labour intensive, and the end product was perfectly imperfect, with this charming unique character where they weren’t perfect, which was a result of being made by hand and not a machine. This experience connected me with and caused me to become very conscious to what it really meant to create something by hand. I also learnt this word “Nodi”at this time which means knots in Italian and loved the word - the sound and form, to me perfectly encompassed a knot - structured, imperfect, strong and simple (like our rugs) I also loved how it sounded and logged it in the back of my mind, thinking if I ever started something that I’d call it Nodi. These necklaces really were the starting point for Nodi without me realising it at the time! Nodi lived unconsciously in the back on my mind for three years before I started it as a business. I guess officially Nodi really came to be after living in India for six months where I spent my time in factories researching and understanding the full hand made process behind rugs. I gave the factory some designs to make - not intentionally starting a business at the time, more simply out of curiosity and love for hand woven textiles. The rugs arrived and I hired and space to see if I could sell them, from there the business has grown to supply throughout New Zealand, breaking into Australia and working on commercial projects with some pretty special companies!
How do the Italian and New Zealand design cultures differ? Italy is full of history, and this comes through in their approach to design and life - there's a certain elegance and simplicity to their approach which I love. New Zealand is incredibly young compared to Italy and that brings a certain freshness to it where the boundaries are pushed without rules and a certain thinking that can come with history. Italian designers in my opinion are masters of classic, timeless design.
Which New Zealand designers do you follow? I draw most of my inspiration from travel which I do as often as I can, and nature. In terms of people here, Fearon Hay are a constant source of inspiration, alongside Yasmine Ganley of Anyone Girl to name a couple.
What does your work space look like? It’s full of things collected on my travels, lots of natural light, art, my team and stacks of rugs of course! I do a lot of my work
on the go.
In terms of your creative process, which is the most challenging part and how do you overcome this? Creating something that is unique and still commercially viable - there's constant pull of tension between the two. I still haven’t totally overcome this, getting feedback from the people around me - my team, friends and seeing how different people engage with the products helps guide me.
What has been the highlight of your creative career so far? Being involved in the Biennale in Venice last year - we supplied two rugs for The Te Koha Room there, designed by Interior Architect Rufus Knight. It was a great honour to be involved in such a prestigious exhibition and represent New Zealand.
All images are credited to Nodi. To shop Olivia's stunning products please visit nodirugs.com. For more inspiration click on the links and follow Nodi on Instagram and Pinterest.
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