FOUNDER
MARIELLA IENNA
I’ve spent 17 years in India’s niche, highly specialised rug industry—still the only place where handmade rugs can be produced at scale with true artisan consistency.
Lavor Ombra may seem a world away from my Law and Arts studies at the University of Sydney, but that foundation gave me the structure to explore freely. My first leap was Verdant Flower Merchants, a Sydney flower studio that became my art school. Nature taught me texture, contrast, and composition.
In 2008, I moved to Palermo and fell hard for its layered beauty—Arab- Norman churches, crumbling palazzos raw Mediterranean life. I made two homes: one in a Liberty-era apartment, the other in a 500-year-old monastery attic. I designed rugs, wallpaper, bedware, furniture, even hand-painted glass and metal pieces shaped by place.
For years, I crafted rugs and textiles for brands like Crate & Barrel and Obeetee, India’s oldest rug house. Now it’s time to create on my own terms—to bring Lavor Ombra to life, and to the world.
2025
Vikram Goyal Studio, 2025 – Present : Production Consultant, Recycled Sari Silk Knotted Program / Mohair kilims for launch of VG fine rugs collection.
OBEETEE RETAIL, RUGS AND TEXTILES, 2022-present : Consulting Designer and Production Director, Mediterranean Memory Collection, Nakshatra Collection (Fall 2025 Rugs & Textile).
OBEETEE EXPORT, 2021 – 2023 : Designer and Head of Product Development (USA accounts RH, ARHUS, CB2 ).
THE RUG IMPORTS USA, 2024 -present : Design Consultant & Producer (having ac- quired best-selling Crate and Barrel designs for US distribution).
MITTAL INTERNATIONAL, 2024 : Design Consultant & Produce for textile (cushions) and rug collections, shown at Heimtextil 2025 Frankfurt.
JAIPUR RUGS INDIA, 2022-24 : Design Consultant & Producer.
JAIPUR LIVING USA, 2022-2024 : Design Consultant & Producer (having acquired best-selling Crate and Barrel designs for US distribution).
FREEDOM AUSTRALIA, 2019-20 : derivative collection based on Crate and Barrel best-sellers and in- store pop- up events in all stores across Australia and New Zealand.
KALEEN (India, USA) 2018 : Design Consultant & Producer, Knotted Rug Collection, Mediterraneano showcased at Domotex 2019 Hannover.
ROCHE BOBOIS, France, 2018 : Design Consultant for the Pitagora Rug Collection.
CRATE & BARREL USA, 2013 – 2021 : Designer and Production Director based in India. Top-selling namesake collection and in-store pop-up events in Fall 2018 and Fall 2019 across all USA, Canada, Dubai, and Istanbul stores.
ORITOP AUSTRIA DISTRIBUTOR, 2011 – 2012 : Kilim Rug Designer and Production Director. The contemporary Kilim Collection was featured at the Domotex Hanover, Germany Rug Fair, 2011-2012.
VERDANT FLOWER MERCHANTS, 2002 – 2007: Owner & Operator. Sydney Australia.
HOTEL/HOSPITALITY/ COMMERCIAL
L’OREAL / AESOP, Production Consultant for In-Store Rugs, Currently Refurbishing the Pasadena Store in Los Angeles with In-House Architects, July – December 2025.
Custom-designed rugs, manufacturing and importing. LA CALETTE HOTEL, Cefalu Sicily, Italy 2024-5 ALBERI DEL PARADISO HOTEL, Cefalu Sicily 2025 GRANDE HOTEL ET DES PALMES, Palermo Italy, 2020 – 2022
HOTEL METROPOLE outdoor kilim project, Taormina 2022
VILLA IGEA HOTEL (Rocco Forte Hotel) Palermo Italy 2020, rug consultation with Olga Polizzi, head designer and Nicholas Haslam Design Studio London.
LE PALMA HOTEL 2021, Capri, Consulting on rug designs and managed production and importing for an award-winning archi- tectural design firm, Francesco De Lugo Roma and Francis Sultana Design Studio London.
GLOBAL PRESS
Crate & Barrel Catalogue USA/Canada 2018, Feature Fall Campaign and social media
Elle Decor Greece 2018, Kilms featured in Clare’s summer home in Filiculdi
Elle Decoration UK April 2016, editorial feature on Via Valverde Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Gourmet Traveller Australia, August 2016, features an 8-page spread on Palermo with Mariella Ienna as the lifestyle and cultural ambassador
Elle Decoration Taiwan 2016, Front cover and editorial feature on Via Valverde Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Belle Magazine Australia April 2016, Editorial, Via Valverde Palermo home, featuring rugs and textile
House & Garden UK April 2016, Front cover and editorial Via Valverde Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Belle Magazine Australia July 2013, Feature on Oritop Kilms
Inside Out Magazine Australia, Jan 2013, Editorial feature on summer house in Filiculd
Schoener Wohnen Germany June 2013, Editorial on Summer House in Filicudi showcasing rugs and textiles
Domotex 2013, Oritop Austria, kilms in Carpet XL Magazine January
Elle Decoration 2013 Thailand, Editorial Via XX Septembre Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Marie Claire Italia, Dec 2012, Editorial Palermo home Via Tommaso Lo Cascio showcasing rugs and textiles
Elle Decoration Winter/Luxe issue UK 2012, Editorial Palermo home Via Tommaso Lo Cascio showcasing rugs and textile
D Magazine, La Repubblica Italy, July 2012, Editorial on Summer House in Filicudi showcasing rugs and textiles
Nest France, Magazine Spécial Déco Printemps 2011, front cover and editorial featuring Via XX Septembre Palermo home, showcasing rugs and textiles
Pavillon Magazine German 2011, Editorial Via XX Settembre Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Kartel Italy magazine 2010 Editorial, Via XX Settembre Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Residence Magazine 2010, Editorial Via XX Settembre Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Hatchette Home Italia’s 2010, Editorial Via XX Settembre Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
D Magazine Casa, La Repubblica Italy 2010, Editorial Via XX Settembre Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Elle Decoration, October 2010, Editorial Via XX Settembre Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Vogue Australia Living Feb/March 2010, Editorial via Settembre Palermo home, featuring rugs and textiles
Vogue Australia Jan 2006, Front cover w/ Cate Blanchett and flowers by Verdant Flower Merchants
Vogue Australia Living Aug/Sept 2003, Verdant Flowers Merchants, front cover and editorial feature
BOOKS & EVENTS
VIVID 2021, a hardcover book published by Hardy Gran International Publisher in 2021 in London, Australia. It is an interior six-page feature on the Via Valverde Palermo home that features rugs and textiles.
Art installations in Palermo, MANIFESTA 12 July 2018, Multi-media exhibit featuring one-of-a-kind carpets as art at the Palermo Botanical Garden. (Elle Decor Italy feature July 12). Eden rug, hung as a wall installation, acquired by the Gardens and now on permanent display in the Caldarium Library.
PLANETA WINERY in Noto, Sicily Multimedia art installations featuring Mariella lenna Designer Rugs July 10, 2021 – September 10, 20211
LA VITA E’ BELLA 2014, published by Ryland Peters & Small, is a lifestyle interior book featuring the Palermo home in Via Tommaso Lo Cascio, showcasing rugs and textiles.
VERDANT FLOWER MERCHANTS book, “Flowers At Home,” published in 2004 by Murdoch Books in Sydney/London, with global circulation.
The details are not the details. They make the design.
Charles Eames