The Mindful One

A paragon of Zen, Omar Khan understands that self-awareness is the first step towards building his legacy in the rugs industry

- Samantha Lim.

Moss, River, Dwelling. The naming of things, a task undertaken by the Maker, doesn’t come naturally at all times. “Some days are easier than others,” says Omar Khan about titling his works. “In what I like to call ‘season one’ of Omar Khan Rugs, I immediately felt that they had individual personalities. Nomenclature not only imbues each rug with character, but also helps the public to identify them.”

Soft-spoken at first blush, Khan’s marked trait is his razor-sharp wit, which makes storytelling one of his strengths. “I went through a whole Greek god phase, so imagine rugs with names like Hephaestus. But when we had to sell the designs...” Out sneaks a sliver of Malaysian dialect: “Ah lah, nobody could spell them.

“Have you seen the one baptised My Little Bonaparte? It references Napoleon because the print looks like little Frenchmen telling you what to do.” His eyes twinkle mischievously. “My rugs are sometimes based on people I know, people I wish I knew, or people I wish I didn’t know.”

TO BE SEEN AND HEARD