Rug doctor Hratch Kozibeyokian and staff at work
Hratch Kozibeyokian matches yard color to a rug he’s repairing at Ko ‘Z’ Craft, his studio in the San Fernando Valley community of Shadow Hills. Kozibeyokian’s studio has gained a following for museum-quality repairs. Home-dyed wool in a subtle rainbow of shades fills an entire wall of one workshop. Each indigo-, madder- and onion skin-tinted skein is actually a mix of dozens of blues, roses or golden-browns. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Mira Assadourian, Kozibeyokian’s wife, weaves a prototype. The studio creates original designs in addition to handling repairs. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A 1980 Navajo blanket is carefully restored. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Dozens of piece await repair: carpet edges frayed by vacuum cleaners, fringe wrecked by dogs, antique weaves that simply have faltered over time. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
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A Ko ‘Z’Craft staff member washes a rug using an organic soap. For some rugs, the treatment is as simple as a mix of vinegar and water. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
The studio complex encompasses several buildings, including a garage that doubles as a carpet drying rack. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
Kozibeyokian checks on some wool, which spends hours in steaming water before reaching the right hue. Larger jobs are handled in an underground over. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
A family spinning wheel is only for display. Kozibeyokian’s grandfather traveled with a portable loom from village to village in Turkish Armenia. When wars disrupted the region, the family fled to Syria and his grandmother wove carpets in a refugee camp. Kozibeyokian grew up in Lebanon, and when war again turned the family into emigrants, his family settled in Chicago. They eventually moved to L.A. at Kozibeyokian’s urging. He was in his 20s, loved motorcycles and hated the cold. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
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Kozibeyokian and Assadourian in their studio: “To bring an old piece back to life, to preserve it,” he says. “That’s something you cannot buy with money. You’re rescuing things that otherwise would be gone forever.” (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)
