Swedish sisters Maja and Ellen Dixdotter—creative director and CEO of By Malene Birger, respectively—have designs beyond your wardrobe; they also want to dress your house with soft, tactile, neutral toned carpets.
In 2020, at about the same time the Dixdotters took on the task of refreshing By Malene Birger by adding a bit of the bohème to the brand’s monochrome Scandi minimalism, the two also founded their own rug company Cappelen Dimyr. Made by hand in India using undyed wool and linen, their rugs are soft and a bit shaggy—see: the two new pieces they’ve come up with for the Stockholm Design Week.
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If Cappelen Dimyr’s arch-shaped no. 1 design seems informed by the 1970s, no. 9 resembles an artfully sheared sheep skin. Most of the rugs balance a certain “wildness” with restraint. “I think we wanted something that’s a little bit eccentric maybe… and also something that felt a little bit Scandinavian in the way we choose materials, working with all natural fibers and neutral colors, but still has some kind of eclectic vibe to it,” explains Maja. “It’s also about rusticness, but in a sophisticated way,” Ellen interjects. It’s this connection to craft and the homespun that makes Cappelen Dimyr rugs feel “warm,” a quality not always associated with minimalism.
The synchronicity between the two companies will soon be underlined publicly; redesigned By Malene Birger boutiques will be outfitted with Cappelen Dimyr rugs, in keeping with the sisters’ overall approach to design. There’s always been such a parallel for us between interiors and fashion,” says Ellen. Rugs, she adds, are like “clothing for interiors, it’s a way of dressing a room with textiles.”
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