As the current reigning preeminent trade show catering to the hand-knotted and handmade rug and carpet industry in North America, The Rug Show presents buyers and attendees a broad offering of aesthetics and qualities. It is also not the first show to lay claim to the title and as such Rug Insider looks at its origins and its future by asking aloud the murmuring questions.

In May of 2018 Rug Star and Christiane Millinger Oriental Rugs and Textiles collaborated on the inaugural North American version of Rug Star’s noted ‘Intimacy’ photography series which began in Berlin, Germany. This is a behind the scenes look at the making of “Intimacy Portland”—set in Portland, Oregon—with commentary regarding the effectiveness of such campaigns on the perception of handmade rugs and carpets.

A new endeavor spearheaded by Steve Cibor of Tamarian and already much discussed within the industry is set to go live this winter. With it comes the possibility of revolutionary change to the way retailers source and sell rugs from inventory. It is The Rug Club, and RUG INSIDER has the details.

A new collaborative project between the World Bank, LabelSTEP, and Turquoise Mountain seeks to empower women while simultaneously moving the Afghan carpet industry into the twenty-first century.

Turquoise Mountain is a non-profit organization founded in 2006, at the behest of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Now working in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and the Middle East, Turquoise Mountain’s objective is to preserve and regenerate historic areas and communities with a rich cultural heritage and to revive traditional crafts in order to create employment, improve trade skills, and foster a renewed sense of regional and cultural pride. Its work is broad, encompassing myriad crafts and trades, from woodworking to ceramics to of course handmade carpet weaving. 

According to company lore it all began in 1920 with eight rugs and a wheeled cart. That’s when Oscar Isberian, a young man from Wilmette, Illinois, co-founded Oscar Isberian Rugs with his brother Megerditch. Today the firm has grown from those humble beginnings into Chicagoland’s premier rug and carpet retailer, Oscar Isberian Rugs. As the firm nears its centenary, RUG INSIDER talks with the current principals of the firm, brothers Oscar Tatosian and Sarkis Tatosian (and others) about the secrets to their company’s enduring success.

Inviting visitors to walk on the rugs and carpets of an architecturally significant home may seem at odds with preservation, but as Rug Insider discovers in conversation with Scott W. Perkins, Director of Preservation and Collections, Fallingwater at Western Pennsylvania Conservancy,  sometimes the goal is more experiential.