Uşak has a significant reputation all over the world in carpet weaving. This reputation stems from its proximity to trade routes as well as the richness of traditional patterns of the region. As a result, Uşak has been a center that supplies carpets to the Ottoman palace and most of Europe since the fifteenth century. Europe initially recognized these carpets as Smyrna rugs. Uşak carpets became very popular and encountered a high demand that has been effective to date.
Uşaklıgil family has lived in this fertile land of hand-woven carpets and worked on carpet production for seven generations. I took my first lessons on carpets from my late grandfather Memduh Uşaklıgil. When I was a child, he was supposedly retired but visited my father's store every day. It was both instructive and fun to listen to my grandfather while he examined and commented on the carpets there and told stories of the past and of his customers from İzmir, İstanbul, Switzerland, England, and the United States. All this stories were adorned with worthy knowledge about carpet production. I had no idea that I was taking the first lessons of rug design which would one day become both my passion and profession.
Those were the years when I met yarn combs, dyehouses, and carpet washing plants. Those were the years when my dad and I rode on his truck to dye masters and when I heard my dad say that the looms were waiting for the yarns. Now it is my turn to use these words several times a week instead of my grandfather and my father.
At the time of my graduation from the university, my father was the director of an organization that ordered the production of carpets in Romania, Egypt, Pakistan, and Uşak and sold to many countries including Turkey, Italy, England, and the United States. I saw how enthusiastic my father was about the creation of a new quality line. The choice of wool, structure of the blend, determining the standards of production, creation of the color palette were all tasks demanding meticulous work because the mistakes made in these stages would have adverse effects in different stages of production that will continue for years.
Looking back, I'm grateful for this chance. I learned what I could about carpets and carpet design from the best masters of the city that produced the most beautiful carpets in the world. I had a chance to examine the original drawings of Cardinal Design Office and possess certain documented knowledge from a giant manufacturer, O.C.M. Generations of carpeting experience legacy has always brought me together with fine carpets. From the States to Romania, from Egypt to Pakistan, I have been in places where carpets were thought-on, designed, washed, finished, stored, and sold.
Throughout the years I studied Industrial Design at METU, worked as a research assistant and part-time lecturer at ITU, designed lighting products, point of purchase displays, exhibition stands, home accessories, etc. a significant part of my mind and effort was allocated to carpet design and production owing to my father's ongoing business.
I don't know how many rugs or kilims I've drawn to date. I may only guess how many new quality lines and palettes I've prepared. The only thing I know for sure is that I want to draw far more than I ever did.
