Decorative Hide Master Kyle Bunting Helped Turn Photographer Douglas Friedman Into a Rug Designer

The pair’s new collection, Atlas, draws direct inspiration from Friedman’s Marfa, Texas, ranch

By Katherine Burns Olson

Douglas Friedman the noted interiors and celebrity photographer, is regularly surrounded by beautiful objects as part of his day job. But he didn’t know he was a designer himself until hide rug purveyor Kyle Bunting, who has worked with the likes of David Rockwell, Amy Lau, Jiun Ho, and Jan Showers, “tracked him down” (in Bunting's words) and began a collaboration that has since opened a new floodgate of creativity for both. The stirring landscape and soulful indoor vibe of Friedman’s remote West Texas ranch, which appeared in last month’s issue of Architectural Digest, yielded a six-piece custom collection that, in the month since its launch, is already on its way to becoming one of Bunting’s most popular. The pair chat with AD PRO about how the line came about—and how they became fast friends.

AD PRO: How were you two originally connected? We heard there’d been some stalking involved.

Friedman: I was familiar with Kyle’s work, but when I was photographing Tommy Hilfiger's house in Miami I was blown away by the work he did. I’d seen his work in the Kardashian homes, but when I saw the Tommy Hilfiger rug, I was like, “Holy crap!” It was something I’d never seen before. But it was never an idea in my head—like, “Oh, let’s make rugs together!” He contacted me and asked, “Do you wanna do something?” I was like, “Yeah…I think.”

Bunting [laughs]: “I think!” I love that.

Read the full article here.

Discover the collection, Atlas, here.

Architectural Digest ADPro | February 2020

Decorative Hide Master Kyle Bunting Helped Turn Photographer Douglas Friedman Into a Rug Designer

By Katherine Burns Olson