Years after the art world made a duct-taped banana its unofficial mascot, design seems to be catching up. Joyful is the word that comes to mind when you spot Rotterdam-based Richard Hutten’s cheeky collaboration with Jaipur Rugs. Making an appearance at Salone del Mobile Milano 2025 this week, the nine-rug collection, suitably named ‘Playing with Tradition’, injects hand-knotted wool-and-silk rugs made in Rajasthan and featuring classic Indian motifs with some fun—read confetti and yellow bananas.
Each rug is a classic piece with a playful twist. A standard rug is livened up by a sprinkle of colourful square and round confetti inspired by the bright shades of gulaal and other Holi colours. The ‘Color Blocks’ rug marries the traditional design of a rug with the symmetry of pastel 3D boxes. In the ‘Connect’ rug, Hutten uses AI to randomly choose two rugs, which he then cuts in half and stitches together with thick orange thread. But the most whimsical carpet (and our personal favourite) is a deep merlot red with a banana print that almost-but-not-quite blends in with the rest of the design. Its inspiration, too, is humour—Hutten imagined it to be a representation of the slipping-on-a-banana-peel gag that Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and several other iconic slapstick comedies made so popular.
The Jaipur Rugs x Richard Hutten collection is available here
