The Golden Fiber, Reimagined

Our Story

GBO tells a story of geography, of land, water, and the quiet lines that shape a place translated, thread by thread, into jute.The name is personal. "Gbo" was a term of endearment for our founder's late grandfather, carried into the collection as a tribute to legacy and lineage. It's also a deliberate play on "Igbo", the people and region of Eastern Nigeria that GBO I first set out to map. The collection was first shown at Collectible Fair in Brussels in 2023, under A Craft Exhibit, the studio's earlier name.

Every GBO rug begins long before a single thread is woven. it begins in the search for jute itself.

What we found was fiber with real character. Golden in tone, strong in hand, and full of small natural variations no two strands quite alike. We knew early on that this wasn’t a material to standardize or smooth over. It was one to explore.

GBO I — Reading the Land

Ala I takes its name from "ala" land, or earth, in the Igbo language. The pattern reimagines the pre-industrial farmland that once spanned entire regions, loosely based on the ADA farmland that still exists today in Owerri, Eastern Nigeria  its long, radiating rows rendered in hues of sand and blue. Jiko is a tribute to the confluence of the river Niger and Benue at its meeting point in Lokoja Nigeria.  Jiko II patterns the river's flow into Onitsha, a town at the bank of the confluence of the Rivers. One of the few Igbo communities to sustain a monarchical system, Onitsha has operated as a trading post since 1857 and remains home to the largest wholesale market in West Africa by footfall. The pattern reimagines the waterflow of goods moving upstream and downstream along the Niger and Benue rivers, woven in terracotta and navy.

Why Jute

Jute is a bast fiber, drawn from the stalk rather than the seed or leaf, which gives it a structure unlike cotton or wool. It’s naturally strong. Stronger, than cotton by tensile measure while remaining breathable and soft underfoot. It's culturally agnostic in the truest sense: no single heritage claims it, no inherited symbolism to defend or preserve, which leaves it free to become whatever a pattern asks of it..

Unlike wool, it isn't a food source for moths or carpet beetles, so it holds up in daily use without the vulnerability wool rugs carry. It's also naturally hypoallergenic, with none of the lanolin or animal proteins that trigger sensitivities in wool.

GBO II — Into Eastern Asia

Where GBO I mapped Igboland, GBO II turns to Eastern Asia  tracing river systems half a world away, with the same instinct: to translate landscape into colour and hold it in jute. The Yarlung chapter takes its name and palette from the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet China. The collection is distilled into four colourways: Coal and Muddy Earth, Coral Reef, Deep Sea and Red Clay. These palettes read the river at its darkest depths, its clay banks, and its furthest reach into open water.

The Search for Better Weaving

Finding good fiber was only the beginning. The harder, longer project was weaving technique.

We travelled between weaving communities to study different approaches — traditional handloom methods passed down through families, regional braiding styles, and embroidery methods that have barely changed in a century. Some produced density and durability; others produced texture and drape. Very few did both well.

Over time, and through a lot of trial, we began combining what we learned: tighter, more consistent braiding where structure mattered, looser and more expressive weaves where texture and softness mattered more. The irregularities you’ll notice in a GBO rug — a slight shift in braid width, a variation in tone from one row to the next — aren’t corrected out. They create a beautiful patina that leaves a unique identifier to each piece.

Where We’ve Landed

Today, every rug we make carries that research forward: sourced from fiber we’ve come to trust, woven using techniques we’ve spent years refining, and finished by hand by artisans who understand the material as well as we do.

It’s a slower way to make a rug. We think it’s the only way to make one that’s worth passing on.