The Australian rug brand Armadillo launched 16 years ago with five rugs. All five are still in production today. Meridian, the brand’s newest collection, makes it easy to understand why people keep coming back.
Meridian is a series of nine handwoven rugs that emphasizes natural fibers, subtle tonal variation, and textured surfaces rather than bold color palettes. It is, in the simplest terms, a collection built around taking color largely out of the equation and seeing what’s left.
“When you take the color out, it really is so much more about the fiber and the construction,” says Amanda Mantville, Armadillo’s President of the Americas. “You really have to look at what’s left, and what’s left is that beautiful craftsmanship and the beautiful fibers that have to shine through.”
Meridian is a series of nine handwoven rugs that emphasizes natural fibers, subtle tonal variation, and textured surfaces rather than bold color palettes. It is, in the simplest terms, a collection built around taking color largely out of the equation and seeing what’s left. Above: Arroyo Thorn
The Meridian collection ranges from minimal flat-weave designs to plush cut pile and robust looped styles, featuring materials like New Zealand wool and Indian jute. Each construction is chosen to highlight the natural qualities of the fiber rather than any surface decoration. Lathe is a particular standout, combining a loop pile base with a cut pile layer on top to create something that functions almost like two rugs in one. The depth of texture it produces is the kind of thing that photographs struggle to capture.
“When people see and touch our products, they’re like, ‘oh my goodness, I can totally see the craftsmanship,'” she says. “They can see the work that’s in it.”
Then there’s the Selva, an elevated interpretation of the traditional kilim rug, with a patchwork-like variegation created through the use of three distinct hanks of Afghan wool. Fiber selection is where the brand’s process gets obsessive. Armadillo works with over 4,000 weavers across different villages, each specializing in particular techniques, and the choice of material is always tied to how the rug will be used and where it will live.
Lathe is a particular standout, combining a loop pile base with a cut pile layer on top to create something that functions almost like two rugs in one. The depth of texture it produces is the kind of thing that photographs struggle to capture.
For Meridian, that thinking led to a range of natural fibers chosen for the specific qualities each brings to its construction, including the way some wools absorb dye differently depending on how many times they pass through the bath.
“It’s like this big cauldron with a fire underneath and they’ve got the hanks of wool and they’re spinning it,” she says. “The amount of times it goes into the dye determines how it picks up the saturation of the color.”
The collection’s Field rug is also Armadillo’s first piece to achieve Responsible Wool Standard certification, giving the collection full supply chain transparency from farm to finished product. That same ethos shapes how the brand approaches production timelines. Some rugs take up to 26 weeks to make by hand, and when designers in the US market first pushed for rush orders after the brand launched there, Armadillo declined.
Selva, an elevated interpretation of the traditional kilim rug, with a patchwork-like variegation created through the use of three distinct hanks of Afghan wool.
“The weavers are often farmers as well,” she says. “It just didn’t feel right.” The tighter the knot, the longer it takes, and Armadillo considers the wait part of what you’re buying.
Amanda has even had one of the brand’s rugs in her own home for years, stress-tested by three kids, a dog, and a shoes-on household. It has held up.
The brand’s Meridian collection ranges from minimal flat-weave designs to plush cut pile and robust looped styles, featuring materials such as New Zealand wool and Indian jute. Each construction is chosen to highlight the natural qualities of the fiber rather than any surface decoration. Above: Arroyo Chalk
“I’m always impressed because they are so easy to live with,” she says. “We really pride ourselves on making something that has longevity. We don’t want to be fast fashion.”
Next up from the brand is a fall collection built entirely around silk. For now, Meridian makes a case that sometimes the most interesting thing in the room is the one asking you to slow down and look closer.
