What is the singular element in a living space that instantly lifts it? Most interior stylists pick the rug as a defining décor piece that can centre a room. In fact, the Indian carpet and rug market is set to grow 9.61% year-on-year to touch $1.87 billion in 2031, according to a Modor Intelligence report. It pegs this sturdy upward trajectory on strong domestic demand. India accounts for 40% of global handmade-carpet exports, revealing a strong affinity for made-in-India products. Sprawling e-commerce reach, social media moodboards, a return to rooted hand-knotting and tufting and a luxury-oriented sustainability preference are accelerating rug acceptance across residential and commercial spaces.

One important marker of this surge is the interest and accommodation of fashion and interior designer interventions in creating bespoke rug collections. Interior stylist Ridhi Khosla Jalan says, “A designer rug helps with brand building, and rug makers invest in these collaborations, which generate interest and do well at exhibitions.” Having said that, Jalan adds a caveat, “ we end up choosing standard collections for the home 90% of the time. We do not often get to execute a look where the rug is the show of the entire space.”

We take a look at three major rug ateliers in India that have successfully integrated designer aesthetics into carpets.

Cross Continental, Jaipur Rugs, Rajasthan

Jaipur Rugs, founded in 1978 by Nand Kishore Chaudhary, showcased its collaboration with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma at Salone del Mobile in Milan in April to rave reviews. The collection seamlessly wove the wabi-sabi aesthetic into hand-tufted wool rugs.

Rutvi Chaudhary, director, explains what designer collaborations bring to the table. “Designers have begun to treat the rug as a canvas for storytelling, drawing influences from architecture, cultural memory, and even urban geometry. On the artisan side, through platforms like Manchaha [where rural weavers design original rugs on the loom using leftover yarn], the convergence of contemporary design and personal expression has pushed the boundaries of rug-making.”

The brand has a repertoire that spans 24 artist and designer-led collaborations. Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, an Emirati publisher and public official, has designed the latest ‘Whispers of the Desert’ collection in hand-knotted wool and bamboo silk, inspired by the ancient landscapes of Mleiha and Faya in Sharjah. She explains the tactile imprint of storytelling: “I travelled to Jaipur on several occasions to work directly with the creative team. I brought the emotional memory and the visual rhythms of our desert, and together we explored how those elements could be translated into contemporary woven art.” She adds that in pieces like ‘The Passage of Time’, concentric rings have been used to express growth and resilience, almost like the rings one can see in the cross-section of a tree.

For Dutch designer and art director Richard Hutten, his 2025 collection ‘Playing with Tradition’ offers sustainably crafted carpets, garnering a growing audience among homeowners. “In these times when sustainability is getting more and more important, you see a revival of natural materials such as the wool I’ve used,” he says. Chaudhary says that while in-house designs find their own homes, these designer collaborations open new doors. “Our in-house collections embody material knowledge and the lived experiences of our artisans. Designer collaborations attract the attention of the global architecture and design community, as they fuse contemporary design thinking with the language of Indian craftsmanship.”

Ottoman and Insectif motifs, Obeetee, Uttar Pradesh

Obeetee was founded in 1920 in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh, by British entrepreneurs F.H. Oakley, F.H. Bowden, and J.A.L. Taylor. Its parent company is now the Kolkata-based Luxmi Group, while the brand is spearheaded by chairman Rudra Chatterjee. Rooted in India’s rich rugmaking history, Obeetee has also forged a strong global footprint.

For Angelique Dhama, president of Obeetee, their eight recent design collaborations are a two-way street. “The most important quality in a collaborator is a strong and distinctive design voice, combined with a genuine curiosity about the craft of carpet making,” she says. The ‘Now-stalgia’ collection by designer Eeshaan Kashyap and the ‘Insectif’ collection by designer Varun Rana are case studies in how contemporary aesthetics are moulded by deeply personal inspiration.

Kashyap’s collection is a nod to the Ottoman Empire, illustrated in hand-tufted and hand-knotted woollen rugs with a fusion of brass, copper, and steel sculptural surfaces. Kashyap reminisces, “My creative process has always been inspired by colour, pattern and texture. This collaboration is inspired by my visit to the museums, where I wanted to use the Ottoman motifs. I wanted to place them in a setting, which could be an office or a home, so that they can adapt and enhance the surroundings.” 

For Rana’s collection, nostalgia for hand-illustrated Soviet books and a serendipitous spotting of a beetle on a rug in a verdant Mirzapur bungalow were the starting point for a collection that is in equal parts whimsical and restrained. “Insects are visually fascinating — intricate, delicate, and incredibly diverse,” says Rana. “I did some preliminary research, only to discover that surprisingly little had been done with them in this context.” The rugs use the insect as a leitmotif to explore placement through traditional Indian patterns. These range from the structured geometry of a Mughal-style jaali pattern to the ubiquitous chatai and the rhythmic form of a Rajasthani baoli (stepwell).

While ideating the collection, Rana was mindful of price points and which audience it would attract. “I strongly believe that everyone deserves to have beautiful things in their home, even if they don’t own the space. So, we consciously ensured the rugs were priced in a way that made them more accessible to a wider audience. The uniqueness of the motif language was intentional, which I felt would resonate with younger buyers and design enthusiasts who are drawn to something unexpected,” states Rana.

Raffia-inspired, Cocoon Fine Rugs, Mumbai

For the atelier founded in 2009 by Ayush Choudhary, its 13 collaborators include fashion designers J.J. Valaya and Varun Bahl as well as architect and designer Rooshad Shroff and artist Vishaka Jindal, among other design studios. These partnerships were carefully calibrated to move the needle in terms of both aesthetic and technical refinement in rug making. The most recent collection, ‘Market’ with designer Pinakin Patel, draws its design syntax from the stripes, pattern and movement of the colourful woven raffia market bag.

“Over the years, we have looked for design alignment and a strong narrative lens where every collection must tell a story. The collaboration with Ashiesh Shah told the Chandigarh story based on Le Corbusier’s work, Ajay Arya told the Bengal Narrative, highlighting textile art in Bengal, so we look for designers who are willing to co-create and not just design because of some demand,” states Smriti Choudhary, brand director. In 2026, the designer collaborations bring cross-disciplinary thinking: fashion, art and architecture, Smriti adds. “Clients today want meaning and not just material. It also helps us with global positioning because collaborations help Indian craftsmanship speak a global design language.”

While rug makers incorporate designers into their process, do these rugs actually sell more than in-house designs? Ameet Mirpuri, founder, Visakhapatnam-based Ameet Mirpuri Design Studio votes for these designer interventions to enhance homes. “ They bring new names to the space and offer us a different perspective on the existing rug market. While homeowners may not know designer names, they have to be guided by their interior stylists towards these collections,” states the interior designer.

The freelance writer is based in Chennai.