PHILADELPHIA SPOTLIGHT: THE EVOLUTION OF CLAUDIA MILLS RUGS

On a bustling Old City Street, pedestrians passing by Claudia Mills Rugs are treated to an unfamiliar sight in 21st century America: weaving. Peaking through floor to ceiling windows, weavers can be seen diligently crafting pieces of functional art. Hanging on the walls, displayed on tall wooden racks, each rug is a riot of color, revealing a new shade or variation each time the sun shines through the storefront. Their team is small but mighty, with Claudia Mills herself working alongside two other weavers, Ayesha and Katrina, on the three looms taking up the bulk of the studio. Claudia Mills Rugs has been at its current location for five years. “Our studio, it’s a showroom studio,” Mills explained. “So, we have an area where we can display our carpets and for customers and clients, and then we also have all of our looms, our three big floor looms here, and a work design area and then storage for all our fabrics. So, it's all out of this one location. Production, design, shipping. Everything is under one roof.”

Mills’ studio wasn’t always open to the public. Her previous West Philly location was a closed studio, but with the move to Old City, her business changed drastically. “A lot of people have never seen a loom or seen one in action, see how things are made, which is really fun to be able to share that,” Mills said, gesturing out of the office into the main studio. “I always wanted to have a storefront studio. Even when I was in Boston before moving here to Philadelphia.” Mills graduated with her Bachelor of General Studies from Ohio University, designing her own course of study, including weaving and drama courses. An eclectic combination, she is the first to admit. She moved to Boston in the early 80s, and in 1985, she took a class on rug making. It was in this course she was first introduced to the rag rug design technique that has now become her signature. Originally, she wasn’t a fan. “I said ‘this takes forever,’ ‘I don't like this,’ but the rug was cool, it came out fine,” Mills explained. But after taking courses at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, where her cohort crafted rag rugs for the school’s charity auction, she was hooked. “When I came back from Haystack, I was very inspired, mostly by the environment there, the colors, the woods,” Mills said. “It’s very magical, just such a beautiful place to be, and I started weaving with fabric exclusively. I just went crazy using everything possible…anything I could get my hands on.”

Mills began weaving by herself, showing her work at craft shows on the east coast. After a slow start, business took off. She knew it was time to get some more help. She continued building her business in Boston before moving to Philadelphia in 2007. It was during this time she worked out of her West Philly studio, selling her work out of a Chestnut Hill pop-up. COVID proved a difficult time for us all, but thankfully, it was a time of positive change for Mills, allowing her to strengthen the E-commerce side of the business. “That was fantastic. People were amazing. Customers were amazing. They stepped up to buy, really supported a lot of artists and craftspeople during that time. It was truly wonderful to see how people really helped out,” Mills recalled, clearly still filled with gratitude about the community support she received during that time.

Shortly after, she moved the business into its current location. “I saw a space in Center City that I was going to move into, but then it didn't work out and it's just as well because then this space became available and this was like perfect for us,” Mills explained. “It was a big, empty, bowling alley, really. I saw this, and I said, ‘yeah, we can get all our looms in here, we can have a place to work, I can have an office.’ So, we moved in here, and that's where we've been now for five years.” The move has been an undisputed success. “I've never been as busy as I have been in my entire career,” Mills said. With a devoted base of loyal customers and an incredible demand for custom work, it’s clear Claudia Mills Rugs remains an amazing example of commercial fiber artistry in Philadelphia.

These images show Claudia Mills' Old City studio and just a few of the beautiful rugs on display and for sale. The three looms in the first photo are often in use when the showroom is open to the public.

PHOTO CREDIT: Talia Pugliese