Kimono "WEDDING" silk on a red background

Pardagi is a Georgian napless carpet. In the past, it was hung on a wall next to the bed, or used to cover a cushion of a chaise lounge or a doorway.  Pardagi were never laid on the floor — as the flooring was made of wood and there was no need for a carpet.  Weavers used simple looms to make Pardagi, and their imagination to create designs. To dye the yarn, natural colorants were usually preferred (walnut shells and partitions, chamomile, onion skins, nettle, madder roots and many more). The resulting colors were subdued and long-lasting.

Pardagi carpets are often decorated with geometrical patterns but on rare occasions, they can also have primitive motifs of animals, people or birds, as well as landscapes and even portraits on them.

These types of Pardagi inspired us to create the "Wedding" kimono. The patterns that decorate the carpets are reminiscent of the paintings by Niko Pirosmani. About a hundred of such valuable skilfully-made Pardagi are on display in the House-Museum of Niko Pirosmani in the village of Mirzaani. There is a collection of these carpets in villages near Kiziki and in Mirzaani itself. They are truly a sheer delight — although simplistic and naive, they still convey the inner strength typical of authentic pieces of folk art.