Introducing Campbell-Rey

A Gustavian-inspired rug collection
A collection of hand-knotted rugs designed by London-based design duo Duncan Campbell and Charlotte Rey with a colourful and art deco-influenced sensibility and the floral motifs of Gustavian style, the neoclassicism of the North.
An interest in the intersection of the natural world and garden motifs is at the heart of the collaboration. Campbell-Rey’s rugs take their impetus from the endlessly fascinating palette in Werner’s Nomenclature with colours including a deep amber, a wisteria lilac, a chartreuse, a raspberry pink and four nuances of green. First published in 1814, this taxonomy of colours in the natural world has been a source of inspiration to artists and designers for more than 200 years. Gustavian style, the Swedish take on French neoclassicism dating back to the 1780s, also plays its part in the collection’s aesthetic with motifs like the wreath and the folding ribbon, along with ideas taken from the history of garden design.

Duncan Campbell and Charlotte Rey with the collection.
Folding Ribbon is a modern interpretation of the ribbons and swags that appear in late 18th-century furniture of the Gustavian style. In raspberry pink and amber, this 3D trompe l’oeil pattern looks strikingly modern despite its roots in a 250-year-old aesthetic.



Garden Maze has lush tones of green reminiscent of hedgerows characterize the Garden Maze rug, an homage to the formal gardens of Russell Page. The deepening shades of green create a play on perspective and recall the geometric shadows of a hedge maze.



Climbing Vine is a similarly contemporary update to a classic motif, a line of scrolling chartreuse foliage, sharp and graphic in its outline, that winds around the edge of a calm lilac rug.


The collection was photographed in Stockholm at the 17th century Van Der Nootska Palace, a building rich in history and tradition. When the Swedish jeweler and art collector Jean Jahnsson bought the palace at the beginning of the 20th century, it became home to a remarkable collection of Swedish art, furniture, porcelain, and silverware, as well as a library of over 100,000 volumes of mostly Swedish literature. Contemporary and twentieth-century furniture was kindly lent for the shoot by Bukowskis, Jacksons Design, Modernity, and Svenskt Tenn.
The Campbell-Rey x Nordic Knots collection will launch in September 2021.