This year’s London Design Festival 2023 is a wrap, and we’re excited to share exciting new releases that made their debut! Modern, colorful rugs from East London rug dealer and design house FLOOR_STORY immediately caught our collective eye. The three new collections the brand dropped are designed in collaboration with Amechi Mandi and Gill Thorpe, and produced through a partnership with talented female weavers from Afghanistan.

modern rug showroom with three hanging rugs and a lawn chair

London Design Festival 2023

modern rug showroom with two hanging rugs and a lawn chair

London Design Festival 2023

styled bedroom with modern orange rug

Amechi Mandi, Dune Waves

For the collaboration, designer Amechi Mandi created six rugs and runners in unexpected graphic shapes. The Waves collection features a great texture through the use of various pile heights that bring a sense of layering and depth, adding to the designs’ illustrative – almost cartoon-like – aesthetic.

Mandi was contacted about his work by FLOOR_STORY Head of Design, Gill Thorpe. Thorpe said, “Amechi’s use of color and pattern really caught my eye, and I could immediately see his approach translating well, into an interesting rug collection.”

styled living space with modern orange, red, and pink rug

Amechi Mandi, Splash Waves

Throughout the Waves collection, Mandi references his childhood spent near the ocean. Wave-like, undulating shapes and pastels in pistachio, pink, and amber portray a playful innocence. Each rug is tufted in India from New Zealand wool and viscose, or traditionally flat woven.

rectangular pink and red rug in studio space

Curb, Reflective Orange

The first of two collections from designer Gill Thorpe is CURB, which takes inspiration from paint markings seen across city pavement – distorted and faded, but still incredibly fascinating. Including both tufted and flat-woven rugs, CURB interprets these patterns into playful borders for each design in celebration of the beauty found in irregularity. Thorpe’s mastery of color blending using contrasting shades elevates the collection to total sophistication.

rectangular pink and red rug in studio space

Curb, Reflective Orange

rectangular purple and peach rug in studio space

Curb, Contrast Purple and Peach

graphic rugs overlaying one another

Curb

rectangular olive green rug in studio space

Curb, Olive Mono

graphic rugs overlaying one another

Curb

styled living space with modern pastel rug

Verso Overlay

Thorpe’s second collection, Verso, combines traditional hand-knotting techniques with visual references from East London. Hailing from the word versus, meaning turned or changed, the designs pull from the misaligned patterns of manhole covers. Geometric and graphic, the collection uses saturated colors – jade, brick, and burgundy – alongside washed out green, nude, and pink tones.

styled living space with modern colorful rug

Verso Inset

The rugs of Verso are made by weavers in Afghanistan using Turkish and Moroccan rug knots. This partnership, with a local NGO, aims to create a steady workflow for predominantly female weavers.

styled living space with modern colorful rug

Verso Quad

styled dining space with modern colorful rug

Verso Pleat

To learn more about FLOOR_STORY’s newest trio of rug collections, visit floorstory.co.uk.

Kelly Beall is Director of Branded Content at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based writer and designer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, from Fashion Plates to MoMA and far beyond. When not searching out the visual arts, she’s likely sharing her favorite finds with others. Kelly can also be found tracking down new music, teaching herself to play the ukulele, or on the couch with her three pets – Bebe, Rainey, and Remy. Find her @designcrush on social.

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