Discover the rug highlights to see at Design Focus/26 at Centre Chelsea Harbour and beyond during the London Design Festival
To start-off this week’s London Design Festival, COVER visited Focus/26 at the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour and well as some surrounding showrooms in the Chelsea area.
Here are some of the rug highlights that caught our eye during our visit, from Esti Barnes’ playful new designs and Jennifer Manners’ innovative /sea/SILKE™ to Obeetee x Tissage Common Ground and Tai Ping’s 70th anniversary exhibition
Amy Kent’s has team up with British furniture and lighting brand Julian Chichester on a new collection of rugs is currently on show at the unveiled at the Julian Chichester showroom. The collaboration brings Kent’s distinctive approach to pattern together with Julian Chichester’s established furniture aesthetic, creating a collection designed to sit naturally within sophisticated interiors.
Designs such as the Harvest Rug are on display, where the sketches of Chichester are brought to life in a creative elegance.
Known for its made-to-order rugs, Kent’s designs can be adapted in colour and size, allowing the new collection to be tailored to individual schemes.
Esti Barnes’ new rug collection, IMAGINE, is brand new for Focus/26, bringing together four designs inspired by the designer’s imagination, inspirations and instincts. Designed by Barnes, the collection explores a playful mix of dreamy and colourful, neutral and expressive designs, with texture taking centre stage throughout.
The collection begins with MOONWALK, a textured design in off-white, before gradually introducing colour. JUGGLE moves into soft pastel tones, while AURORA explores dreamy coral pinks. At the boldest end of the collection, HARLEQUIN brings together blocks of aubergine, mustard, grey and turquoise, with graduated colour creating a three-dimensional effect.
Despite their contrasting appearances, the four designs are united by their differences, creating a collection that feels playful and cohesive when viewed together.
Jennifer Manners is showcasing /sea/SILK, the first collection created using the studio’s new proprietary silk-performance fibre. Made predominantly from reclaimed fishing nets, /sea/SILKE combines the softness and fluidity associated with silk with the durability needed for high-use interiors.
The inaugural NAVIGATOR collection explores the material through colour, pattern, texture and pile height. Its palette of 45 colours was developed by Jennifer Manners with specialist dyers in India, creating depth and subtle variation as the surface responds to changing light. Seven hand-knotted designs – Swell, Calypso, Beacon, Pelagos, Maren, Ondine and Alize – range from graphic lines and geometric forms to softer, curved compositions.
The collection marks a new direction for the London-based rug studio, bringing together reclaimed marine materials and traditional rug-making techniques. Rather than attempting to replicate natural silk, /sea/SILKE has been developed as a material with its own character, offering a combination of softness, colour, resilience and a distinctive surface.
At Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, Tufenkian Artisan Carpets presents a broad selection of hand-knotted rugs spanning understated, textural designs through to richly patterned compositions. Made using natural materials, the collection reflects the brand’s long-standing focus on combining traditional rug-making techniques with contemporary design.
The London showroom, located on the third floor of the Centre Dome, brings together classic and modern designs alongside one-of-a-kind rugs and an extensive archive of colourways. For more bespoke projects, Tufenkian’s custom rug programme allows existing designs to be resized or recoloured, while completely original designs can also be developed using the brand’s T-Gallery design system.
As part of Focus/26, the showroom offers an opportunity to explore Tufenkian’s approach to handmade rugs within the wider creative programme at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour.
Jaipur Rugs’ has many designs on display for Focus/26 visitors, including those from the Freedom Manchaha initiative, which extends the brand’s Manchaha philosophy of creative freedom into Rajasthan’s correctional facilities.
Launched in collaboration with the State of Rajasthan Prison Department, the programme gives inmates the opportunity to design and weave one-of-a-kind rugs inspired by their own experiences, memories and surroundings.
The initiative grew from Manchaha, which was established in 2010 to give rural artisans the freedom to create their own designs without traditional design maps or instructions. For Freedom Manchaha, participants receive training and resources before creating their own compositions on the loom, turning personal stories into expressive patterns and colour combinations.
Each rug is therefore individual, with designs ranging from geometric and floral motifs to scenes drawn from everyday life. Alongside providing creative expression and skills, the programme offers paid work, with participating inmates able to develop experience that can support future employment.
At Focus/26, The Rug Company welcomes visitors to its Chelsea Harbour showroom with a selection of recent collections that showcase the brand’s approach to contemporary handmade rugs. Among the latest launches is Ratio by Paul Smith, which brings the British designer’s playful approach to colour and ordered repetition to the floor.
Alongside Ratio, Surface & Stillness draws inspiration from the natural world, while Arden explores texture and tactile detail. Together, the collections demonstrate the range of approaches within The Rug Company’s contemporary offering, from graphic colour and pattern to quieter, more textural designs.
The Chelsea Harbour showroom is The Rug Company’s flagship London location, where visitors can explore its handmade rugs in person and discuss customisation and bespoke options with the team.
At Focus/26, Obeetee presents Common Ground, a new collection with Tissage (which you may recognise from our front cover of this year’s Autumn Issue) that explores ideas of community, connection and belonging.
Created by Tissage creative director Nikhil Kapoor and his team, the collection takes inspiration from a group of young skateboarders he encountered in India, whose shared passion brought together people from different social and economic backgrounds.
The idea of finding commonality across difference is translated into a collection of hand-knotted wool and silk rugs, where traditional motifs are reworked through a more contemporary, youthful lens. Eclectic patterns, expressive colour and a more maximalist approach give the designs a fresh energy, while traditional rug-making techniques remain at their core.
Obeetee will also be hosting a talk for Common Ground on Wednesday 16 September at the showroom.
Just a short journey from Chelsea Harbour, Tai Ping is marking its 70th anniversary with Icons Underfoot, an exhibition at its Fulham Road showroom. Running from 14–18 September, the presentation brings together seven iconic rugs representing seven decades of the brand, tracing its evolution through archive pieces, influential collaborations and contemporary explorations of texture and materials.
Presented in a gallery-style setting, the exhibition includes designs such as Alizea I from the Biophilic Collection, Conoid II from the Nakashima Edition, Ephemera BO3 from the Antho10gy Collection, Zebrea DIII Nocturne from the Evolution Series and Daisy Green from the Archive Collection. Together, the seven rugs highlight different chapters in Tai Ping’s creative history, from pioneering designer collaborations to developments in material innovation and contemporary rug-making.
The exhibition also reflects Tai Ping’s continuing interest in pushing the possibilities of handmade carpets, bringing together technical expertise, innovative materials and artistic design. An open evening will be held at the Fulham Road showroom on Thursday 17 September from 6–9pm.
Roger Oates Design brings together heritage techniques and contemporary pattern across its latest designs.
On display at their showroom currently is the stair-runner Avon Studio, part of the Rivers Collection, reimagines the brand’s iconic Cheltenham design with a ‘colour on colour’ approach.
A plain herringbone ground is framed by the classic Cheltenham border stripe, with colourways including Indigo, Lichen and Olive. Made from British blend wool, Avon is designed, woven and hand finished in the UK and can be used as a stair runner, area rug or wall-to-wall floor covering.
Elsewhere, a collaboration with Richard Allan London sees three designs from the British scarf designer’s 1960s archive reimagined as hand-tufted rugs. Developed by Roger Oates Design Creative Director Andy Guard and Cate Allan, daughter of Richard Allan, the collection translates the archive’s bold graphics and distinctive use of colour into rugs made from 100% British wool.
Manhattan, Dotty and Pebble draw on everything from the geometric grid of Manhattan to the optical pattern of Dotty and the organic forms of Pebble. Each is hand-tufted in Devon and finished by hand, retaining the spirit of Allan’s original artworks while bringing them into a contemporary interior setting.
London Design Festival is running until the 20 September 2026, bringing launches, exhibitions and creative events to destinations across the capital.
Keep an eye on our socials as we visit some more highlights throughout the week.
Words by Libbi Kettle
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