D. BRYANT ARCHIE TEXTILES 2008 D. Bryant Archie llc, All Rights Reserved. THE DESIGNER A middle child, I was commonly described as “creative, artistic, dramatic” and simply “different.” When I’d express just about everything in terms of how I feel, or show a drawing, painting, poem or story to my parents, they’d often say, “wow, that’s great…don’t know where you got that [ability] from.” I liked the mystique behind my talents. In college, I took the safe path of liberal arts. I probably should have gone to art school; yet, having a well-rounded education combined with diverse life and work experiences has served me well. After a brief stint in editing for a small trade magazine, my first taste of interiors was with the Swiss leather furniture manufacturer, de Sede of Switzerland. But working with the great weaver and textile designer, Elizabeth Eakins, I realized a passion for textiles. I learned to love the development process, from concept to market, while fine-tuning my eye and instinct for color, texture and quality. After the installation of the Eakins fabric collection at John Rosselli in New York, I moved to Washington, DC to be closer to my fiancé. As a result of a relationship with the principals, I began working at John Rosselli in DC. There I enjoyed an educating in great taste, but soon missed the textile design process and began searching for a path back to my passion. I also married my best friend and we began planning our honeymoon… THE COMPANY What began as our Moroccan honeymoon also turned out to be the birthplace of a dream job. On one of our daily adventures, we discovered a souk of Berbers weaving blankets by hand in exotic, vibrant and sensual hues. The next morning I woke up to the realization that the world had a place for my take on the beauty of ancient, far-flung cultures that add spice to our lives. The dream evolved and materialized into a small collection of blankets, reflecting my design sensibility – inspired by ancient Native American, Persian and African art. I offer the first collection: seven designs woven and finished by hand in Peru, made of luxuriously soft and indigenous baby alpaca. Ancient hand weaving techniques construct the character of each piece. Our blankets nod to great art of the past – reincarnated for the present and future to enjoy.