June 21, 2024
Provided Image/The Folklore House
Philly rug tufting company Tuft the World just released its latest collaboration with TikTok star Grey Prnce. The rug line has three designs, and rugs cost $200 to $2,880, depending on size.
Tuft the World, the South Philly rug tufting company based in the Bok Building, is now selling sustainably-made rugs designed by a TikTok star.
Tuft the World has been at the forefront of the rug tufting trend since Tiernan Alexander and Tim Eads, who are married, found the company in 2018. Rug tufting is a technique for producing rugs by threading yarn loops into a backing material, often with the use of a tufting gun.
Over the years, Tuft the World has collaborated with drag star Trixie Mattel and the Los Angeles Chargers. Now, Grey Prince of the TikTok duo Grayson and Grey, who share the ins and outs of their relationship as a queer couple on TikTok, has designed three rugs being sold by Tuft the World.
Grey Prnce, who also creates sketches and drawings for tattoos, and Tuft the World began working on the rugs eight months ago. The rugs were made with a CNC tactical machine, which can take digital images and tuft them, similar to a "giant embroidery machine," Eads said.
The three new rug designs include two with a star pattern in black and gold. The other design features pink wiggles on a green background. The rugs cost $200 to $2,880 depending on size.
One of two star rug designs from Grey Prince and Tuft the World.
"I spend a lot of time on the floor drawing and hanging with friends, so it made sense to create something soft and comfortable to bring joy to people in their homes, because home is so important to me and Grayson," Grey Prnce said. "I’m a minimalist and don't believe in having a bunch of things you don't care about in your home. All you need is a handful of meaningful anchors like these beautiful rugs."
Collaborations like this allow Eads and Alexander to share the craft of tufting with people who are unfamiliar or don't have time to learn how to do it, Eads said.
"Seeing their work become real in the form of a rug or a wall tapestry is kind of amazing, because the people that we've already been working with are super-talented artists already, they just have never tufted before," Eads said. "So it's really exciting to see their work translated in this more soft form."
The Strawberry Fields rug design from Grey Prince and Tuft the World.
Rug orders are largely carbon neutral, and Tuft the World plants a tree for every order placed. Since beginning the initiative in 2020, Eads said that the company has planted about 36,000 trees.
To expand the world of rug tufting, Tuft the World plans to begin a residency program in collaboration with three Philadelphia artists later this year. Applications eventually will be open to tufters across the country. The program will mostly be remote.
"What I want is for people to see that it's a tool that can be anything, literally you can make anything," Eads said. "So, it's really opening up your creativity."
