|
|
|
Rug Insider Magazine
News for the Rug and Carpet Professional 
Though Alicia Keshishian comes from an Armenian rug family well steeped in the trade of quintessentially ‘oriental’ carpets, her aesthetic is decidedly modern. RUG INSIDER talks with the rug designer and color expert to gauge what defines—or often redefines—an aesthetic.
There is a saying, “what’s old is new again.” Fashion works in cycles, and what is popular at a certain time might fall out of favor for a while, only to be rediscovered some time later, and celebrated once again as the trendy “new” item of the moment.
The mere utterance of its name alone is enough to elicit controversy. On one hand there are those who love to hate upon it, on the other are those who embrace its use. Viscose, in its various forms, is increasingly used in rugs and carpets of multiple qualities. RUG INSIDER presents a daring look at both sides discussing its relative performance characteristics, situations unsuited for viscose, some key legal notes, and finally what makes a viscose carpet great.
What’s Hot this Summer in the New York City Area Rug Sector? Summer brings with it many things. For most people, it’s the time when kids are off from school, and it’s time to head off to the beach, to the park, to vacation, or to otherwise rest, relax, and soak up the summertime sun. New York City, however, being the ‘city that never sleeps,’ is also the city that keeps busy during the summer months, with plenty of red-hot activities taking place in the area rug sector, including trendy items, care and cleaning, exciting trade shows, and more.
WHAT’S TRENDING: THE TRENDINESS OF THE ANTIQUE TAPESTRY
One of the items that is trending the most at this time is the antique tapestry. Per our InAntiques article elsewhere in this issue, the antique tapestry was the ultimate luxury item and status symbol of European royalty in the 15th - 18th centuries, adorning the castle walls of kings, dukes, and the elite, and being woven at the ateliers of some of the finest artists of the era. These antique tapestries have been rediscovered by present-day interior designers, decorators, shelter magazines, and social media influencers, and have reemerged as the hottest ‘new’ trend in wall decor.
For the biggest and best selection of antique tapestries in various sizes, styles, and price points, visit Persian Gallery New York’s user-friendly website at www.pgny.com.
SUMMERTIME ACTIVITY: RUG CARE, CLEANING & APPRAISALS
The Spring season is known for people doing a thorough Spring Cleaning of their homes. Increasingly, that Spring Cleaning is followed up in the Summer season by people tending to their area rugs, including addressing their rug care, cleaning, and appraisal needs.
Whether it is because people will be on vacation, and want their valuable vintage and antique rugs attended to during their absence, or whether their Spring Cleaning activities put rug care needs at the forefront of their minds, Summer is becoming the new big season for people’s care and cleaning needs.
Some clients request that their rugs receive a thorough washing and cleaning, perhaps with the sense that if they, themselves will be taking a dip in the pool, then their rugs should also take a dip in a pool of sudsy water for a deep cleaning!
Others will want their rugs restored or repaired, or in some cases, treated for moth damage, as moths tend to be more active in the hot, humid time frame of the Summer season.
In other cases, people might be moving from one place to another, or dealing with settling the needs of their family’s estate, or for a variety of other reasons, might need to have appraisals and valuations performed for their collection of rugs.
Per our recent articles in Rug Insider covering all of these topics, with Rug Care and Cleaning discussed in the Spring 2024 issue, and with valuations and appraisals discussed in the Winter 2024 issue, you can reach out with your rug care, cleaning, appraisal, and valuation needs to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and we’ll be happy to assist you!
MEN ON THE MOVE
As referenced above, many people make their moves in the summertime, moving from an apartment to a house, a house to another house, or whatever the case might be. This is also the case in the New York/New Jersey area rug trade, with several rug vendors moving from one place to another in these months. We’ll check back in with a roundup of who moved where in a future Rug Insider article!
HOME DECOR TRADE SHOWS: ICFF, WANTED x DESIGN, NY NOW, BDNY
In the New York/New Jersey area rug trade, the biggest trade shows of the year come in the Fall, kicking off the Fall season, and the unofficial start of a ‘new year’ of product introductions, showroom openings, and other industry news and events.
The two big Fall trade shows for the rug trade are The Rug Show, taking place in the Meadowlands Expo Center in New Jersey, and Cover Connect taking place at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. These two rug-specific industry shows take place in early September, and the anticipation is growing for both events, with Rug Insider coverage also coming up soon!
Before we get to these two rug-only trade shows, though, numerous well-known area rug vendors are exhibiting their latest introductions in two other red hot trade shows in New York City, notably the industry fairs, ICFF and NY NOW. These two home decor industry shows take place at different points during the summer months, starting with ICFF.
The first of these shows, ICFF, or the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, has already kicked off the Summer season early, taking place in mid-May at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. This year’s event featured vendors from many categories, including indoor and outdoor furniture, kitchen appliances, fireplaces, water features, lighting, and other home decor categories.
In the area rug category, ICFF was highlighted by the dazzling displays of such area rug standouts as Warp & Weft, Nasiri, Apadana, Rug & Kilim, Marc Phillips, JD Staron, Tibetano, Liora Manne, Wendy Morrison Design, and more. Of these rug stalwarts, Warp & Weft, Apadana, and Liora Manne all picked up awards during ICFF 2024!
At the other end of the Summer season is NY NOW, also at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City, but running from August 4th - 7th, in the final month of summertime. Like ICFF, NY NOW also features a wide array of interior decor products, including home furnishings, lighting, kitchen and bath products, and rugs, but also includes dozens of other vendors specializing in gifts and novelties, and even more categories.
As of this writing, it has not yet been published as to which area rug dealers will be participating in NY NOW, but based on past years, some of the names mentioned above from ICFF are highly likely to be there, and what will be there for sure, will be the biggest trade show buzz of August, before we get to the main event of the rug trade’s Fall Markets! We look forward to seeing you all there!
Designed by Garth Roberts, cc-tapis’ After Party carpet recently won a coveted German Design Award. The design— inspired in part by post fete confetti on the floor—reminds of the Memphis Design Movement of the 1980s, terrazzo flooring, vinyl composite tile (VCT), and one might argue, an updated and revisited Desert from Odegard Carpets.
In the Summer 2024 issue of RUG INSIDER, we discussed the sustainability in the world of area rugs, and the idea of “Going Green.” For the portion of the rug industry that is focused on modern and contemporary rugs, being green and sustainable generally means being eco-friendly, and transitioning from the usage of synthetic materials, such as viscose and polypropylene, to more natural materials, including wool, cotton, and silk. Similarly, it marks a process of “going green,” and a transition from synthetic dyes to natural dyes, decreasing environmental impact.
When RUG INSIDER first started publication in 1996 the rug market was nearing the end run of a great class of traditionally styled rugs that replicated the look of those familiar Persian designs of Kashan, Isfahan, Kerman, and especially Tabriz to name but a few. Handmade in the Peoples Republic of China the so-called Sino-Persian rugs rose to prominence in the late 1980s as an alternative to their Persian cousins, which were banned by a United States embargo from 1987 to 2000.
Winter is here, and as we welcome 2024, we also say hello to all the “new” in the world of area rugs, as rug vendors are releasing numerous “new rug” designs to kick off the New Year. Flip through the pages of the winter issue of Rug Insider, and you will find hundreds of new rugs from different vendors, with a wide range of colors, styles, and designs. What you are less likely to see, but which is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the area rug industry, are details about the rug appraisal process, along with such related questions as what types of appraisals there are, what purposes they serve, who is asking for them, and what goes into preparing them.
