Our Journey

Ss-bonita was founded by Textile Designer, Samara Elms in 2020. Fuelled by an undergraduate degree being cut short with the looming uncertainty of a global pandemic, combined with the grief of a breakup, this energy was channelled into her first business, a shaky yet beautifully experimental time that laid down the foundation for what ss-bonita nowadays can stand on.

Having studied Textile Design in the UK, Samara specialised in Rug Design, refining the discipline of hand-tufting. This was what built the success of her first business, along with a bedroom studio and DIY tufting frame built by her loving dad. Samara began to design bespoke rugs and work to commission designing pieces for global clientele.

Ss-bonita stands for ‘Samara, Sean, Bonita’ her own name along the names of her two parents, this brand is a homage to her parents un-wavering love and support that made this and so many other things in her life possible.

Despite the success of her first business, Samara’s true goal was to travel, and thus inspired a 4 year and ongoing trip around the world. Ss-bonita during this time was slowly building energetic form, through meeting ancient textile artisans working in Peru, being inspired by sophisticated Spanish aesthetics or witnessing ceramic masters throwing pots in Morocco. Each country visited opened a window of curiosity and eventually lead us to Nepal, a country rich in heritage, iconic landscapes, ancient textile design, and now the country where we are lucky enough to work with some of the worlds most talented artisans to produce our luxury rugs. Read more about our journey into Nepal here…

Ss-bonita is now based in Sydney, Australia where we are inspired by breath-taking nature and some of the worlds most sophisticated interiors. Our goal is to thoughtfully produce vibrant, against the grain designs woven to last and sustainably support the communities that help us bring them to you. We’re so glad you’ve come to join the journey…