Colors: Orange Color

Iconic and inspirational, the work of Swedish textile firm Märta Måås-Fjetterström is synonymous with the resurgent popularity of Mid-Century inspired rugs and carpets. Rug Insider takes a closer look at the firm and its work. 

To think of the aesthetic of Mid-Century is to recall the iconic forms of noted designers such as Wegner, Jacobsen, Saarinen,
Nelson, and Eames, each an iconic personality whose equally singular designs have come to be emblematic of the period, and whose names carry provenance and stature.

In late August 2017 a calamitous hurricane caused massive flooding and destruction in Houston, Texas. As the city and region continues to rebuild, rug insider Lisa Slappey of Pride of Persia Rug Company & Postmodern Traditions provides a narrative on the fate of deluged rugs and carpets and the state of rug sales.

Rodney Hakim is a dealer at Persian Gallery New York whom Rug Insider has known for many years. When Hakim inquired this past spring as to why Rug Insider didn’t feature more old or antique carpets on our pages, we sheepishly had to admit it was mostly due to lack of experience with the genre. Hakim graciously offered to help introduce us, and now perhaps many of you, to the world of “old work” as we’re calling it.

From the earliest days of the rug and carpet industry, stories have been told of itinerate rug traders traveling to far off lands at first to procure and then later to create and oversee the production of their own design work. Less often, however, is it the case that the would be carpet maker chooses to emigrate in order to pursue such endeavors. Justin Vorel is one such individual.

A little bit nautical with its pennant-like motifs, a little North American charismatic with its braided texture, and a whole lot of Mid-Century appeal with its distinctive color palette, The Clare Collection from Feizy is a delight of modernity in more ways than simple visual appeal. Aesthetics aside, a hallmark of Mid-Century was an underlying desire for functionality, and the rugs of the Clare Collection deliver that same appeal using materials of today.

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. 

“A good quality wool rug or carpet will provide years of service with proper care and cleaning” is in one way or another a sentence that has been spoken by countless salesmen when describing the durability of said rugs.

RUG INSIDER presents a selection of complementary colored carpets which remind it’s not easy to be green. There is always a flourish of activity surrounding the announcement of color trends for the coming year, with Pantone’s proclamation of Ultra-Violet for 2018 as no exception.