NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 05/21/09 -- Tai Ping (www.taipingcarpets.com) (HKSE: 0146), a leading maker of custom luxury carpets, has announced the US launch of its latest collection, Haiku, to coincide with the rebirth and renewal of spring, according to Chief Marketing Officer Simone Rothman.

The line is inspired by the decorative arts tradition of Japan, and references various facets of crafts and artisanship: textile weaving and haute couture, papermaking and ceramics, architecture and interior design.

Comprising 28 individual designs, the collection is divided into four categories: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Seasonal change is a fascination in Japanese culture -- in fact, it is a common subject matter for the 5/7/5 poetic form from which this collection takes its name.

"Haiku's springtime designs evoke exquisite embroidered kimonos and depict flowers, often fading into delicately textured fields. Summer's designs celebrate shibori, a centuries-old method of fabric dying," says Yasmina Kossman, of Director Design in the US Atelier at Tai Ping Carpets.

Practitioners of shibori create patterns by binding, folding, and pleating fabrics before dying them; designs then emerge from the negative spaces the dyes, often in brilliant hues, could not reach. Autumn's designs capture the transition of the season with geometrics that seem to disappear into themselves; winter's patterns are more definitive, borrowing classic motifs from Japanese ceramics, architecture, and garden design.

"Japanese influences are ever more prevalent in the world of design, art, and fashion," says Kossman. "This is a culture that has nurtured its traditional arts and manufacturing techniques while emerging as a leader in technology and contemporary design. That commitment -- even reverence -- for art and design inspired us to create Haiku."

Haiku's designs are hand-tufted. A variety of fibres -- including wool-silk blends, cashmere-wool blends, bamboo and woven cotton -- are employed in a variety of techniques. Haiku's palette is based on a single family of warm neutrals and metallics, and evolves through its seasonal progression of designs.