ORIGINS

Mokum was established in 1979 by Edwin and Micheal Rsyenbry and named in honour of their Dutch father, Nick Rsyenbry. Mokum is Yiddish slang for Amsterdam, the city where Nick grew up. From its central Auckland offices, Mokum initially procured contemporary European textiles for the New Zealand market, then expanded into Australia in the 1990s.

AUSTRALIA

Design Director, Stephanie Moffitt joined Mokum in 1992 and at this time the product mix was very different to now, with dominance in converted USA products and handlooms from India.

In 1998, Michael Rysenbry and Stephanie moved from Auckland to Sydney and set about changing the product mix to suit the Australian market. This move was a great success and sales rapidly grew, eclipsing the New Zealand market.

NORTH AMERICA

In 2002 Mokum Textiles bought Artikex Textiles, owners of the contract band Loop, which in turn took them to North America via USA sales consultant Arthur Segar. This relationship quickly brought residential brand Mokum into the market via multi line showrooms and began the expansion into its current footprint.

To extend the product mix, the company realised it needed to design their own textiles to ensure they had international exclusivity for their growing export markets and quickly expanded the Sydney based design studio. Through entering export markets it was discovered that the Mokum brand had a fresh approach to designing textiles, one which was defined by location and cultural influences.

NEW ACQUISITION

In 2011, Mokum Textiles was purchased by James Dunlop Textiles out of New Zealand and through this investment the brand has expanded and evolved and is growing in all markets.