Marketing director and assistant rug designer at Cadrys, Jessica Cadry is known for being young and fabulous with a great sense of style. Here, she talks us about the latest collection and gives us some trade secrets
What is your design background?
To be honest, I don’t have any official qualifications! I have been exposed to rugs my whole life, however, and have always had a keen interest in design, colour and fashion. My earliest memories were ones from our showroom in Edgecliff. I used to love jumping from pile to pile, and little did I realise that 25 years later I would be helping to run the business and design our own range of rugs. I now read all the current home furnishing and fashion magazines, as well as visiting various design trade fairs around the world, which give me great inspiration for our current and upcoming rug collections. However, to let you in on a trade secret, while I really enjoy the colour and design aspect, the trick to ensure good design translates into beautiful rugs is in immaculate production. My brother Mark is technically brilliant and runs all our production, ensuring the designs are translated exquisitely in to the rug medium. It’s a true team effort.
Tell us a little about the business.
The business has been around for almost 60 years. It was started by my grandfather Jacques Cadry who, in his time, was one of the first Oriental rug dealers in Australia. Originally a ‘nose’ for COTY in Persia, he was passionate about all the beautiful things in life, including textiles, art, hand-woven rugs, rare icons and antiques. His passion was poured into his business, but what he enjoyed most was getting to know all his customers personally, and educating them on the different styles and designs of the rugs. Almost all of his five children and 15 grandchildren have at some stage worked for Cadrys, making it a family business in every sense of the word! My brother Mark, Uncle Bob and I are now the driving force of the business, although we like to believe that Jacques is still guiding and watching our every move.
What was the inspiration for the two collections?
Signature Prints, the custodians of the Florence Broadhurst design library, did some mystery shopping to find the best people to take on the rug collection. We were honoured that they chose Cadrys.
In the first collection we tried to stay true to Florence’s bold colour inspirations and design in order to create a true ‘Florence’ impact with the collection. In our next phase of development we have played with the scales of the designs, and used more tone-on-tone colour palettes, creating a refined and subtle feel to the collection. Both options are now available in store at Cadrys.
For our Nepalese natural collection, our inspiration for the rugs was nature in every sense of the word. We are proud that our customers are becoming increasingly eco-conscious, and wanted to create a collection that was completely natural. We have played with various organic materials such as hemp, nettle, soy, wool, bamboo and banana silk, leaving them all unbleached and undyed and constructing them in various was to create truly gorgeous rugs.
We have also allowed for both rug collections to be fully customised by our customers, so that they too can enjoy designing a rug to suit their individual needs and desires.
When will it be launched?
Our Florence Broadhurst rug collection launched in Australia last November with great success. We launched it in LA during West Week in March and took it to the east coast as we exhibit at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in May in New York. We have been overwhelmed with positive responses to both collections and are already working on the next phase — Florence Broadhurst rug collection #2. It will be fresh, fun and very different to what we have just released, so watch this space! As for our Nepalese naturals collection, we are thrilled with the product development that we have recently done. It is available now at Cadrys throughout Australia and was also launched in the US market at the New York ICFF.
Does Cadry’s have a motto – if so, what is it?
Absolutely! My grandfather Jacques was a firm believer in providing high quality products and service, but what set him apart was the personal interest he took in his customers. Our motto is to make sure that we always go above and beyond, making sure that we take care of our entire customer needs and wants, while providing beautiful high-quality products.
People still walk past the showroom today recalling stories about what an amazing person Jacques was, reminding us how important it is to keep the business operating in the same way he did for all those years.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how and when you became involved in the business.
When I left school I was in two minds, deciding between pursuing my studies in interior decorating or human resources. For a range of reasons I went with HR and once I finished my degree I worked for six years in the corporate world. I really enjoyed my experience, but always knew HR wasn’t my true calling.
When I left my last job Dad put the question to me: do I want to join the business? Timing is everything to me, and this was truly a great opportunity at a perfect time in my life. Cadrys was about to embark on producing the first range of Florence Broadhurst rugs and the Nepalese naturals collection, which gave me the chance to put my true passion for working with design and colour into action. I’m also grateful for the time I spent in HR, as the skills I developed are helping me run the business with my brother and uncle.
For more information, contact Cadrys on 02 9328 6144 or visit www.cadrys.com.au.
