About Us
HELLO! WE ARE UGLY RUGLY!
Launched in July of 2017, Ugly Rugly is an exploration into using unconventional textile methods to produce wild and wacky home goods. Ugly Rugly is currently based in Bushwick, Brooklyn NY and is run entirely by married duo Lauren and Cole Hansen.
Originally started as a side project in 2016 making rope and recycled items on her home sewing machine. Lauren explored the rag-rug making methods taught to her by her grandma and expanded the practice by using rope and other more consistent materials. Eventually making coiled rugs, baskets, and placemats. Shortly after, Cole imported a tufting machine and mastered it. They began to combine tufting and rope coiling techniques and thus Ugly Rugly was born.
The tufting machine arrived in a box full of parts that Cole painstakingly figured out how to put together. The tufting craze hadn’t quite hit yet and there were virtually no resources available. Cole and Lauren spent many long evenings scouring the internet and library books for any resources on how to use the machine and learned to make beautiful, high quality rugs. Sometimes making slightly risky deals with overseas yarn vendors and driving all over the North East sourcing materials. Eventually gaining the knowledge and expertise to launch a full collection at the end of 2017.
Ugly Rugly has gone on to innovate textile home goods and create objects that embody a silly, irreverent, and cheerful spirit. To this day, Lauren and Cole make, inspect, and ship most items and are committed exploring fair domestic and overseas manufacturing. Ugly Rugly is proud to be represented in over 15 stores nationwide and shown in major print and online publications. Ugly Rugly’s goal is to make soft objects for a hard world.
Who we are:
Lauren has always been a maker at heart. Growing up on a large farm in California’s San Joaquin Valley gave her insight into seeing where goods come from and a DIY attitude. She studied Fashion Design at California College of the Arts where she earned a BFA in 2012. Lauren has worked in various positions in the fashion industry, from sewing on a production line in a factory, design assistant in the Bay Area, India, and NYC’s garment district, to teaching sewing to students of all ages. She’s an expert on the sewing machine and often takes sewing related freelance jobs. Lauren is the CEO and does all of the sewing for Ugly Rugly.
Cole is an artist with a discerning eye. He grew up helping out on his family’s raisin vineyard in Central California, just a few hours away from where Lauren grew up. He studied Photography at California College of the Arts where he earned his BFA in 2012. Cole has worked at various high profile galleries in Manhattan, in behind the scenes roles like photography and art handling. Cole handles all of the tufting and finishing, plus all of the photography for Ugly Rugly. He is the shipping and operations manager for the company.
The future hope of Ugly Rugly is to grow into a workshop where we can share our love of textiles and making with others.