Zoë Luyendijk Studio of Vancouver, Canada joins RUGMARK Foundation’s Certification Program to help end child labor in the South Asian carpet industry

Furniture World Magazine

The RUGMARK label offers the best assurance that a hand-knotted carpet was not made by the small hands of children. That’s why the Zoë Luyendijk Studio of Vancouver, Canada joined the RUGMARK Foundation’s no child labor certification program. The RUGMARK label will now appear on every exclusive Zoë Luyendijk (pronounced lion-dike) rug. Zoë Luyendijk, an award winning interior designer known for the free-spirited originality of her designs is launching a new carpet business this year. Her innovative collections, with evocative names like Spiderwoman and Puddle Dancing, are fine, contemporary pieces made in Nepal using traditional Persian knotting techniques with Tibetan wool, silk and hemp. According to Luyendijk, her designs explore concepts and ideas in a physical form "to contribute to the beauty of the world in a small way." "The carpets, which were always a part of my interior design projects, were what interested me the most--they gave me a chance to ‘play’," explained Luyendijk. On a visit to Nepal last year Luyendijk and her partner, Murray Malott, were so discouraged by the poor working conditions in the carpet-making factories that they actually considered giving up their new business endeavor. Instead, they persevered and discovered rugs being made at RUGMARK licensed mills where there was "chatter, laughter, music and light". Luyendijk said, "The two issues that mattered most to us in choosing manufacturers were the quality of carpet weaving and the quality of working conditions. Our research and first-hand experience visiting mills in Asia convinced us that by choosing RUGMARK licensed manufacturers, we could achieve the necessary results and at the same time carry out our ethical business philosophy." Zoë Luyendijk believes that buyers of any product should know its source and care about how it was produced, including how the workers were treated. "If given an option, most people will choose not to support the exploitation of others, especially children. RUGMARK allows consumers to make that choice," explained Luyendijk. Child labor is rife in the handloom carpet industry where most South Asian carpets are destined for export to the United States and Europe. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Labor estimated that there were up to one million children weaving carpets in Pakistan, Nepal, and India. RUGMARK’s efforts have helped significantly in removing children from the carpet weaving industry. In Nepal, for example, a recent UNICEF study revealed that the incidence of child labor in the carpet industry has dropped from 11 percent to three percent. "RUGMARK is making a real dent in the child labor epidemic," said Nina Smith, Executive Director of RUGMARK. "We are able to do this because companies like Zoë Luyendijk Studio are committed to running responsible businesses." To accomplish its mission, RUGMARK inspects looms in India, Nepal, and Pakistan and certifies carpets as child labor-free. The organization also runs schools and rehabilitation centers for former child weavers. Licensed importers sell certified carpets in the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. Since its inception in 1995, RUGMARK has freed more than 2,000 child weavers and provided schooling for more than 1,800 with a ripple effect spreading to tens of thousands of child workers across the South Asian region. "It is reassuring to us that all carpets sold under the Zoë Luyendijk Studio name are produced in conjunction with the RUGMARK label. In this very complex world, we feel that the principles of not exploiting children is the only appropriate and correct means of doing business," said Luyendijk. "We saw RUGMARK factories with daycare centers and we learned about their education programs. We know it took years of dedicated work and best intentions [to make this a reality] and it is not just a marketing tool - it is the assurance that there are inspections confirming no child labor in our absence from the factories. RUGMARK is a positive force in the industry and we knew we wanted to be a part of it," expressed Luyendijk. More information about Zoë Luyendijk Studio is available at www.zoeluyendijk.com. To learn more about RUGMARK Foundation please visit www.rugmark.org or call toll-free at 1-866-RUGMARK.