Cover Founder Denise Taojo Kaur (right) and creative director Shernan Plameras (left) at Living DNA’s Keong Saik showroom
Founder Denise Taojo Kaur (right) and creative director Shernan Plameras (left) at Living DNA’s Keong Saik showroom
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In a world obsessed with instant gratifications, Living DNA is teaching Singapore that beauty and craftsmanship are worth the wait
Living DNA is perhaps one of the most gatekept brands in Singapore. Its handmade rugs, displayed on walls as artworks that invite touch, or laid across floors as the finishing note to a room, appear frequently on magazine covers and in some of the island’s most photographed interiors, often uncredited, sometimes by design, sometimes bound by strict non-disclosure agreements.
Behind that discretion is a brand doing the seemingly counterintuitive: choosing custom, deeply personal craftsmanship in a culture that furnishes homes in a hurry. Tatler Homes sat down with brand founder Denise Taojo Kaur and creative director Shernan Plameras to talk about heritage craftsmanship, the enduring allure of analogue in a digital world, and why some things are still worth waiting for.
In case you missed it: How home-grown bespoke rug brand Living DNA grounds modern interiors with quiet luxury
Above Living DNA founder Denise Taojo Kaur (right) and creative director Shernan Plameras (left), photographed at the brand's Keong Saik showroom, with a custom rug displayed like a work of art behind them
Living DNA founder Denise Taojo Kaur (right) and creative director Shernan Plameras (left), photographed at the brand's Keong Saik showroom, with a custom rug displayed like a work of art behind them
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How has customer appreciation for handmade craft changed since you started, 11 years ago?
Denise Taojo Kaur (DTK): In the beginning, people cared mainly about how a rug looked. Now, we get deeper questions: what’s this made of, does it shed microplastics, how long will it last? It’s validating, as that was our pitch from day one: making handmade rugs in a world of machine-made alternatives. It just took years for people to catch up.
Above The December-January 2025 cover of Tatler Homes, featuring a living room by Hall Interior with custom Living DNA rug
Above Custom Living DNA rug in the tea room of the black-and-white bungalow on 9 Goodwood Park by Woods Baggot
The December-January 2025 cover of Tatler Homes, featuring a living room by Hall Interior with custom Living DNA rug
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Why does slowness matter even more these days, in such a fast-moving culture?
Shernan Plameras (SP): We can scroll all day and feel like we’ve experienced a beautiful home without ever touching one. As life gets faster and more digital, slowness becomes a counterweight, the tactile, the shared, the handmade. It’s the same instinct behind the return of analogue elsewhere, listening rooms, cafes where you can watch things being made. If everyone can make a house look good, the next question is how to make it feel like something.
Above A swatch-lined wall with a curio cabinet and reading chair at the Living DNA Joo Chiat showroom
A swatch-lined wall with a curio cabinet and reading chair at the Living DNA Joo Chiat showroom
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Have the techniques themselves changed to keep up with demand?
SP: Surprisingly, no. The way we make our Alchemy rug uses methods that are a thousand years old. What’s changed is how designers reinterpret that heritage to make it feel relevant now; the designer becomes a translator, almost a conduit, between old craft and new relevance.
How do you protect that slowness while still meeting the demand for speed?
SP: We keep large pieces in ready stock, some as big as 3.7 by 5 metres, so a designer can come to us needing a specific tone tomorrow, and we can still deliver. It takes years of logistics experience to make that possible, but that back-end discipline is what protects the slower, creative side of the business.
Above A rich tapestry of samples in various shapes and hues
A rich tapestry of samples in various shapes and hues
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Walk us through the customer journey for a bespoke rug. What are you really solving for?
SP: Our mantra is listen first, design later. Very few people walk in saying “I need a rug.” What they actually have is an unfinished space, they just don’t always know that yet.
DTK: I’m a homeowner first, not a designer, and the journey is built with that in mind, for someone who often can’t yet visualise what they want. We take a consultative approach, understand the vision, then build on it together. That’s really where the name comes from too. Most homes start with the templated basics, walls, beds, sofas. What we bring in is what makes the space someone’s own, the DNA of a home that’s already being lived in.
Above A curated, tactile vignette of vases and rolled rug samples at the Living DNA showroom
A curated, tactile vignette of vases and rolled rug samples at the Living DNA showroom
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What’s next for Living DNA?
DTK: We’re increasingly crafting for brands directly, a rug made for a hotel or a perfumer no longer looks like a Living DNA piece, it looks like theirs. That’s really what DNA means to us: we adapt. [The lines between] commercial and residential design are also blurring, offices and restaurants now want the same warmth as a home, so our aesthetic is expanding outwards rather than needing its own separate style.
Above The material library and consultation corner at the Living DNA showroom, where the design team and clients sit down to discuss a piece
The material library and consultation corner at the Living DNA showroom, where the design team and clients sit down to discuss a piece
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Credits
Photography: Benny Loh (unless otherwise stated)
Jakarta-born, Bandung-raised and Singapore-based, Asih Jenie trained in Visual Communication Design at Bandung Institute of Technology and Architecture at Parahyangan Catholic University. She brings both rigour and heart to design journalism, infused with a distinct Southeast Asian voice.
As a child, she doodled on the edges of her schoolbooks and never outgrew her fascination with all things well-made and well-told. Her 15-year career spans editorial roles and bylines in Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia, across spatial design titles such as Dwell Asia, Cubes, Design Anthology, Habitus Living, and Home & Decor.
After a brief stint in public relations, she returned to publishing in 2023 to lead Tatler Homes Singapore, where she continues to tell stories about how we shape the spaces that shape us.
