Yara Shahidi Pays it Forward

Kyle Bunting has established a globally recognized name in design, initially through custom hide rugs and later expanding into wall coverings, art, and custom applications. The brand, approaching its 20th anniversary, has been instrumental in redefining hide as a specialty material. Bunting's journey began in the late 1990s, after renovating several residential properties and developing a strong interest in design. The idea for creating custom hide rugs struck him at 3 AM, inspired by a mosaic hide art piece by his father and a custom rug he owned. This realization led him to explore the potential of hide to create unique, colorful, and custom-designed rugs in various shapes and sizes. After discussing the concept with his father, the brand, Kyle Bunting, was officially launched. The brand quickly became synonymous with hide, known for creating the first decorative hide rug and holding a unique position for its original, authentic, high-quality, and custom offerings. Over the past decade, responding to encouragement from designers, Kyle Bunting expanded beyond rugs to become specialists in all things hide, venturing into upholstery and vertical applications such as murals and wall coverings. These expansions have brought new challenges and opportunities, particularly in how these hide applications interact with light and decor differently from rugs. Initially, Kyle Bunting operated as a smaller studio serving high-end, boutique designers. As the business evolved and entered the showroom world, it connected with a broader clientele. Now, as an independent brand, the long-standing relationships built over the years form the foundation of its operations. Clients are more adventurous, leveraging the brand's production and creative capabilities to realize innovative ideas, even if these present greater intellectual and engineering complexities. Bunting emphasizes that hide, as a medium, is tactile and interacts with light uniquely, possessing natural flaws and inconsistencies that the brand has mastered incorporating into elegant products. Bunting differentiates his work from imitators by highlighting the brand's unwavering commitment to innovation, quality, and volume. While acknowledging that some companies attempt to reproduce his copyrighted designs, he asserts that Kyle Bunting's offerings are superior, emphasizing value and a portfolio that demonstrates global leadership in the field. The brand's collaborative spirit is a core aspect of its identity, stemming from its inception as a creative design partner for designers. This approach naturally extended to collaborations with artists like Douglas Friedman, Matt Neuman, and Abidemi Olowonira, blending multi-dimensional practices to create pieces that blur the line between decorative objects and artwork. These artistic collaborations have introduced new perspectives, with artists often prioritizing aesthetic value over interior functionality. Bunting's team endeavors to balance these artistic visions with practicality, creating pieces that are both beautiful and functional. The creation process at Kyle Bunting is inherently collaborative, starting with an idea and flowing through engineering considerations to ensure harmonious color and piece balance. Designers then further manipulate these initial concepts, contributing to a successful and fluid design formula. Looking ahead to the brand's 20th anniversary, Bunting expresses excitement for the longevity and continued success of the company, attributing it to the dedicated team, material partners, and commissioning designers. He looks forward to celebrating two decades of distinctive work and embarking on another twenty years of innovation and quality in hide design. #KyleBunting #HideDesign #CustomRugs #InteriorDesign #DesignInnovation #ArtisticCollaboration #LuxuryDecor #Craftsmanship #TextileArt #KyleBunting #HideDesign #CustomRugs #InteriorDesign #DesignInnovation #ArtisticCollaboration #LuxuryDecor #Craftsmanship #TextileArt