Dezeen promotion: American home design retailer ABC Carpet & Home has photographed its latest collection of rugs in upstate New York's Howe Caverns.

The brand's campaign, titled The Genesis of Design, centres around the exclusive Alchemy rug collection, which is made from recycled materials.

Inspired by nature's "creative cycles", each Alchemy rug is woven by artisans using excess sheared silk and wool salvaged from previously produced rugs.

The unusual location of the shoot saw photographer Jason Madara travel 500 feet (152 metres) underground to create a campaign that imagines the rugs as newly discovered objects, naturally integrated into their surroundings.

"We lit all the rocks, nothing was ambient exposure. The beauty of that is then I can match the tones of the rugs, and complement the colour of the rocks,” said Madara.

"Without a doubt, I’ve never had a more physically and emotionally challenging project just because of where we were and what we were doing, but it's also the most rewarding campaign I've ever done."

Each rug features modern takes on traditional designs, with a distinct washing process that creates a silk-like sheen on the surface of each rug.

The recycled silk and wool produces unexpected colours and patterns, making every Alchemy rug unique in appearance.

ABC Carpet & Home hopes this production process will promote a new generation of nature-based, sustainable rug making, to an industry that generates 13.1 millions tonnes of annual waste.

"This is the future of design," said Angela Gruszka, vice president of marketing and creative for ABC Carpet. "We need to start thinking about how we are going to preserve traditional craftsmanship and sustainable design in a world that is evolving at such a rapid pace."

Find out more about the Alchemy collection on ABC Carpet & Home's website.