Designer Debrief - A chat about the Miss Amara Collection

In case you missed it, we have recently launched our very own Miss Amara Collection. It was a first for our team and a brave step at that, but boy are we happy we made the move.

We thought we’d share some insights into and inspiration behind this special collection in a chat with our designer Alex.

1. How would you speak about the collection to someone with only a minute to spare?

Well, it’s the culmination of years of rug obsession!

A labour of love, the collection has been designed and curated after months of travel, countless conversations with our customers and intense research into rug making techniques and advancements in fibre technology.  We are crazy proud of the result! A range of 75 rugs (it was only meant to be 15 but we got a little carried away…!!) that we just know our customers will love, with something for everyone no matter their lifestyle or interior style. 

We took inspiration from some of our favourite destinations around the world and timeless design movements so you will see scandi, tribal, contemporary, traditional and mid-century design styles, all in the highest grade materials and a generous range of sizes. 

2. How have you incorporated customer feedback into the collection, and why was that important?

Customer feedback was a really important element of this collection and working with our rug makers directly gave us the freedom to address some of their long-held frustrations with the current rug styles on the market. For example, so many of our customers adore the look of natural jute rugs but don’t like the scratchy feel. So working with our manufacturers we sourced the softest possible jute fibres and experimented with cotton and wool blends to create gorgeous styles that keep the beautiful aesthetic of a jute rug but with a dreamy underfoot feel. 

In another instance, we heard from customers who wanted to incorporate a traditional antique rug into their decor but were worried that the typically delicate style wouldn’t hold up in their busy family home. So we did a little experimenting and developed two rug styles with the unusual combination of an antique look and a hardwearing flatweave construction - perfect for even the busiest areas of the home and under high use furniture.

3. What is it that makes each of the capsules unique?

Let's run through them and I'll tell you exactly why they're so special! 

One thing we hear loud and clear is that our customers have busy homes and busy lives and would much rather spend their time hanging out with the family and furbabies than worrying about keeping everything clean (who can relate?!).
We also know that they are a seriously stylish bunch, so we wanted to create a collection that is truly ‘life-proof’ yet doesn't compromise on style.

Enter our Lifestyle Collection - inspired by our favourite trends and a few timeless designs, using the latest advanced fibre technology this range of rugs is super hard wearing, stain resistant and easy to care for. We worked tirelessly to ensure that the collection included highly versatile colours and print options so that our customers would be able to find a hardwearing style to suit their home, no matter what their decor.

Our Alpine Collection is a dream come true. Truly timeless Berber rugs are a style that everyone covets (I know I have been on the hunt for a beautiful Berber for ages!) but their high design status sometimes makes them feel like they are not accessible for the everyday customer, often hard to find or WAY out of budget.

We think everyone deserves to add a little bit of luxe to their homes, so we looked into the techniques and designs of traditional Berber rugs; researched which wools work best, the wash processes to achieve that stunning feathery softness and ancient Berber rug patterns.

Our final designs are refined and timeless, a combination of traditional Berber design styles that hero the natural tones of the New Zealand wool and simple contrasting patterns. And what's nice is that they come in at a great price point for our customers. 

Our Natural Collection features a mix of intricate designs, geometric and tribal-inspired patterns and more classic jute styles with an even tone and weave (perfect for adventurous stylists wanting to experiment with rug layering).

Now, we've touched on jute rugs already - something that people fall in love with over and over again because they are the perfect way to add an organic feel and warmth to a space. We've watched our customers mix and match this style into a range of decors and we're always so impressed with how versatile jute rugs are. 

We knew that we had to include jute in our new collection BUT one frustration we have encounter with jute rugs on the market is the inevitable tradeoff between the gorgeous natural texture and a hard, rough underfoot feel. This was a driving factor for our Natural Collection and we did a tonne of research to understand how we could achieve the same natural look without compromising the feel. The result is a silky SOFT jute fibre that we are super proud of. We think that some of our jute styles will be the softest jutes you have ever touched!

One thing about our style-savvy customers is that they love styling up their kid's rooms, you seriously won't believe some of the gorgeous spaces they create!
So for our Wonderland Collection, we wanted to create a range of gorgeous kids rugs with refined design sensibilities to match this growing trend. This collection is all about joy and whimsy, with sweet colour combos and pom pom detailing for texture. Even though it's designed with kids in mind, the styles in this collection are versatile enough for those "big kids" among us who just love a bit of fun and colour in their spaces. 

Tribal-inspired styling is something that will probably always hold an appeal - an enduring interior trend! We just love how tribal accents add an element of authenticity and a sense of history and culture to a space. For our Tribe Collection, we strived to design a range that would mix and match with a range of decors. From bolder designs featuring contrasting geometric patterns to more subtle styles in neutral colours with tribal elements incorporated through raised patterns in the weave. There's texture, there's pattern, a beautifully versatile palette - so much to play within Tribe! 

And lastly there's our Timeless Collection - the name says it all!  After years of working in the rug biz and seeing trends come and go, we’ve developed a pretty good eye for those styles that stand the test of time. Drawing inspiration from the minimalism of Scandinavian design and contemporary rug styles, our Timeless Collection is characterised by a neutral colour palette and simple, classic patterns that will blend seamlessly into our customer's homes and continue to bring them joy for many years to come.

 We really hope our passion and desire to create something special for our customers comes through the collection and filters into the many beautiful spaces that our customers have created! We really love being a part of that in some small way.  

Head to our website to check out the Miss Amara Collection styles that you can pre-order and remember that new styles are added as they become available so keep an eye out!