The Moiré Collection, an innovative series of broadloom and modular floorcovering, represents a collaboration between Mannington Commercial and globally-renowned artist Gabriel Dawe and draws inspiration from the artist’s textile infused installations.
A leading manufacturer of commercial flooring surfaces, including broadloom, modular plank and tile, LVT, resilient sheet, and rubber wall base, tile and accessories, Mannington Commercial sought out Gabriel Dawe as a design collaborator due to his innovative work with embroidery thread. Dawe, whose work has been exhibited in major museums, installation fairs and galleries in the United States, Canada and Europe, brings an inventive energy and perspective to the brand. The unveiling of The Moiré Collection represents the artist’s premiere effort in product design.
Vice President of Design Roby Isaac said, “Translating a world-renowned artist’s vision into a functional floorcovering has been a challenge that Mannington eagerly embraced. As designers, the idea of channeling Dawe’s complex and intricate creations into something tactile was an incredible undertaking. We were thrilled that he was keen to collaborate with Mannington and to understand what we, as a brand, were hoping to achieve.”
The Moiré Collection was inspired by Dawe’s work where miles of colorful threads are configured into forms that result in unique planes of depth, filled with rays of light. In textile or print design, moiré is described as a wavy or rippled textured effect where sets of lines or dots are superimposed upon one another creating sets of patterns differing in size and spacing. Similarly, The Moiré Collection celebrates the visual effect of its namesake. Offered in broadloom and modular plank constructions, the collection features replicated lines and forms that interact and change in color gradation and depth as the viewer’s perspective changes.
Artist Gabriel Dawe, said, “Seeing my work re-imagined and envisioned into an entire collection of broadloom and modular carpet has been deeply gratifying. The Moiré Collection represents my first effort at designing product and working with Roby Isaac and the Mannington in-house design studio has been an incredible experience.”
The Mannington Design Studio in collaboration with Gabriel Dawe developed three styles for the The Moiré Collection as follows:
Pure Wavelength offers a large-scale study of moiré patterns, presented in modular plank resulting in a light- and color-filled dimension with layered, intersecting lines.
Visible Light, available in broadloom and modular plank, deconstructs the moiré effect into a mix of fragmented lines, stippling & scattered color to product a soft, organic pattern option.
Ray Tracing, deconstructs a sequential color gradient into striated color bands to form a playful, open pattern. For this modular plank style, moments of pattern appear and disappear.
Available colorways in The Moiré Collection include red-orange, blue-green and purple-indigo color families as well as a few neutral companions. A “full-spectrum” colorway has been included that speaks to Dawe’s signature use of color and light in his work.
The unique quality of light in Dawe’s work is also captured by a special treatment of high-luster yarn, which creates light within the carpet designs. The mix of luster levels brings colors to life with momentary glimpses of sheen that heighten the palette and enhance the sense of dimension found in the patterns. The challenge of creating linear layers and bands of colors in modular and broadloom applications in The Moiré Collection–made possible from a high luster Antron Legacy yarn system–adds an element of dimensionality in a floor covering that is unrivaled. The product is ideal for use in contract settings, particularly in workplace, hospitality, education, retail and any other commercial environments that need to make a statement and still yield high performance.
ABOUT GABRIEL DAWE
Originally from Mexico City, Gabriel Dawe creates site-specific installations that explore the connection between fashion and architecture, and how they relate to the human need for shelter in all its shapes and forms. His work is centered in the exploration of textiles, aiming to examine the complicated construction of gender and identity in his native Mexico and attempting to subvert the notions of masculinity and machismo prevalent in the present day.
After living in Montreal, Canada for seven years, he moved to Dallas, Texas, where he obtained his MFA at the University of Texas at Dallas. For the final two years of his degree, he was an artist in residence at CentralTrak, the Artist in Residency program at UTD. His work has been featured in numerous publications around the world, including Sculpture magazine, the cover of the 12th edition of Art Fundamentals published by McGraw-Hill, and author Tristan Manco’s book Raw + Material = Art.
Work by Gabriel Dawe has been exhibited at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Denver Art Museum, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Newark Museum and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, among others, as well as major galleries, installation fairs, public spaces and exhibitions throughout the United States, Canada, UK and Europe.
Dawe’s collaboration with Mannington Commercial, one of the foremost carpet and flooring manufacturers serving the contract and architectural markets, signifies the artist’s first effort at designing product. The result is The Moiré Collection, a collection of broadloom and modular plank.