As this year comes to a close, I’m reminded that beyond designs, deadlines, and deliveries, it’s the long standing relationship with our clients, team and family that truly matter. Grateful for the continued faith, the shared values, and the respect for craft that connects us across continents. Wishing everyone celebrating a Merry Christmas and a […]
There are people who shape a business quietly, without ever asking for credit.Iqbal Ahmed ji is one of them. He has been with our family since 1976. He started as a weaver, working alongside my grandfather on the loom. Over the years, as his understanding of weaving deepened, he naturally grew into managing looms and […]
For over a century, my family has been exporting hand-knotted rugs from India.S.N. Kapoor Exports began in 1916, and for most of that journey, almost 90% of what we produced was exported. That’s been the story of the Indian rug industry too — we’re one of the largest makers of handmade carpets globally, yet most […]
Running a legacy business has been a blessing for me. It comes with opportunity as well as with immense responsibility. At Understorey and S.N. Kapoor Exports, the people are the business.The craftsmen, artists, and weavers we work with – many of whom have been with us for decades are the backbone of everything we do. […]
Someone recently asked me:“Once a rug is in place, how do you actually take care of it?” It’s a practical question, but it also reveals something deeper. We’ve been trained to think of rugs as fragile luxury objects — something that needs constant attention or special treatment.The truth is quite the opposite. A well-made hand-knotted […]
Every rug we make at Understorey has a story.But this one felt personal. When my brother-in-law got married, Sanjana Kapoor and I wanted to make something extraordinary for them, something that would stay with them long after the wedding was over. There was a photograph of the two of them – beautifully captured, full of […]
Most people assume the hardest part of a hand-knotted rug is the weaving. For this project, the toughest phase came after the weaving was done. 1. The Rug Became a 2-Ton ChallengeOnce the rug was off the loom and washed, the weight crossed two tons.No one can manually lift something like that. We had to […]
20 Months. 14 Weavers. One Rug. Once the planning was done, the real test began. To execute a 14/14 pure silk rug of this size, we needed only the most skilled weavers in our entire network – the people who can maintain precision for months without a single lapse. 1. Selecting the TeamWe asked one […]
Every company has that one project that forces you to test everything you know. For us, it was a pair of rugs measuring 27.5 ft × 56 ft, in pure silk, woven in 14/14 quality — something very few weavers in the world can execute today. People assume the toughest part of a project like […]
The most inspiring thing I’ve learned from our weavers… Discipline. Hand-knotting isn’t a skill you pick up casually.It takes years of practice before you get good at it and even longer before you become great. Some of our master weavers tie hundreds of thousands of knots without even looking down.Their hands just know what to […]
