The Timeless Craft of Rugmaking w/ Noreen Seabrook

Studio Visit with celebrity rug maker Marko at Noreen Seabrook.

Filmed and Edited by Shane Allen

For Marko Nichols-Marcy, rugs have been part of his life for as long as he can remember. His father founded Noreen Seabrook in 1995, naming the company after Marko’s grandmother, and Marko grew up surrounded by samples, designs and conversations about weaving. What began as his father’s business eventually became his own world, even though he never initially expected to work in rugs.

A major part of that connection comes from Nepal, where Marko first traveled with his father in the late 1990s. Noreen Seabrook’s rugs are still made there using traditional Tibetan weaving techniques. Designs are translated into full-scale loom drawings, colors are mixed and dyed by hand, and Tibetan wool is hand-knotted before each rug is washed, dried, sheared and carved. It is a process that can take weeks and depends heavily on the skill of the people making it.

When Marko eventually took over the creative direction of the company, he began pushing those traditional techniques into a much more contemporary space. Instead of treating rugs only as interior design objects, Noreen Seabrook began working with artists, designers and brands to turn their imagery into woven pieces. The studio’s work can move from centuries-old Tibetan tiger designs to graphic lettering, cartoons and contemporary artwork without changing the handmade process behind it.

That balance between old and new has become central to Noreen Seabrook. Marko is interested in preserving a craft that has existed for generations while showing that a rug can be more than something sitting unnoticed beneath furniture. Through bold designs and collaborations, he has pushed the medium closer to art while keeping the people, materials and traditions behind each piece visible.