The Goldfish

Our newest collection is named for the title character’s pre-human form in Ponyo, a 2008 film by Hayao Miyazaki based loosely on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and a number of Japanese folktales. 

We loved Ponyo before we became parents, and before quarantine, but those factors added potency as we revisited it - again and again - with our young daughter (at the start of the movie, Ponyo lives underwater inside a literal bubble). The specific and often contradictory rules we suddenly grew accustomed to in 2020 can feel like the enchantment at the beginning of a fairytale: we encouraged our child to explore and connect with others and her environment, but held her back from touching anything outside our home, or getting too close to anyone, even other children. The five rugs in this collection are our attempt to capture some of the playfulness, strangeness and innocence of both that film and raising a young child in these times. 

As we approached the anniversary of our first year in quarantine, we looked for new ways to connect - to each other and to other people, to the products we design and the spaces they inhabit. 

During quarantine, instead of formal lookbook shoots, we decided to send the collection to someone whose home we admire. They styled the rugs however they like and sent us pictures taken on their phones. These glimpses were the closest we came to a visit, especially to faraway places, for some time. The results were intimate portraits of our rugs and of these homes we love, as well as documentation of how people occupy their spaces, especially now that those spaces are subject to heavier use than ever before. 

For our newest lookbook, our friend Katarina Matsson shot and styled The Goldfish rugs in her incredible home. Since she was shooting in Sweden in the wintertime, Katarina had to wait weeks for enough sunlight and we could not be happier with what she captured.

Photographed and Styled by Katarina Matsson