Carpet brand Tai Ping has eliminated "by far the most polluting" part of its production process with the Biophilic rug collection, made exclusively from natural materials that are left raw and undyed.
Instead, the 16 rugs presented at the London Design Festival derive their colours from 35 different natural fibres, including silk, cotton, jute, flax, bamboo and wool that are interwoven to create intricate gradients and patterns.
Cotton was also used to form the backing for the rugs, with natural latex derived from the sap of the rubber tree helping to bind the layers together in lieu of plastic.
Tai Ping presented its Biophilic rugs at London Design Festival 2024
By cutting out the need for dye, Tai Ping was able to reduce the amount of water needed to produce the rugs by 60 per cent while using 85 per cent less energy, explained the company's director of innovation and sustainable development, Alexander Rawlins. "What we forget about the carpet and textile world is that the dyeing stage is by far the most polluting and the most energy-using part of the whole process," he told Dezeen.
"And it is possible to create beautiful and enduring products without passing through that process."
The rugs are made entirely from natural materials
Eight of the Biophilic rugs are hand-tufted, painstakingly interweaving strands of silk, jute, cashmere and Barbary wool to create gradient patterns reminiscent of Japanese shibori tie dyes ? but without the need f...