NEW YORK--Rug & Kilim founder Jahanshah "Josh" Nazmiyal aims to take the best of Scandinavian flatweave design and tweak it for broader market appeal. Although rugs in this genre have always been popular with Rug & Kilim's to-the-trade clientele, the company has adapted, reworked and improved upon Scandinavian carpets by prominent mid-20th century designers and weavers to develop an exclusive new collection aimed at wholesale buyers.

Expanding into Wholesale

"I have been in my space dealing with the very rich and affluent for 35 years. Now it is time to branch out," Nazmiyal says of his foray into the wholesale business in tandem with the launch of his new Nordic designs. In fact, the timing couldn't be better given the recent resurgence of furniture and textiles of the period and the mainstreaming of Scandinavian design elements into contemporary American homes.

 

Josh Nazmiyal says that while relatively new to the design vernacular of most American consumers, Scandinavian antique and vintage flatweave carpets have always been a favorite choice of designers who source from a select group of about 20 high end dealers around the world. He points to three dealers in this stratosphere in New York: FJ Hakimian, Doris Leslie Blau, and the Nazmiyal Collection, owned by his brother, Jason Nazmiyal.

A sign of the growing appetite for Scandinavian designs can be witnessed in a series of recent auctions. Wright Chicago held two sales this year: the Scandinavian Design auction in November and 20th Century Carpets in June, during which a flatweave carpet by the now-highly regarded Swedish designer Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom (1873-1941) sold well above its estimate for close to $47,500 and a rare tapestry weave carpet by Swedish designer Marianne Richter (1916-2010) sold for $100,000.

Indeed, a Rug & Kilim design inspired by the work of Marta Maas-Fjetterstrom was named a finalist in the Best Traditional Collection category for the prestigious 2016 Carpet Design Awards to be held at the upcoming Domotex show in Hannover, Germany this January. Called Marta Stripe, the flatweave rug is part of the new Scandinavian collection that will be unveiled to wholesale buyers when the company exhibits for first time at Domotex.

 

A new language of design

Rug & Kilim's owner says he challenged his weavers in India to update and refresh mid-century rugs to transform them into the classics of tomorrow. "We have introduced new textures and new neutral colorways that have been extremely well received."

A detail of a textural design from the new Rug & Kilim Scandinavian collection blends chenille, cotton, and wool hand spun yarns.

"A lot of our yarns are used in their natural form, so there is no color--the nuances come from the yarns themselves. We used classic designs, and updated them with neutral colors and unexpected combinations of weaves and textures." The Scandinavian flatweaves are crafted with as many as four types of yarns to create a new depth of texture.

Yarn options in the program include pure wool, wool and cotton, chenille and blends with up to 10 or 15 percent manmade fibers. The innovative combinations of yarns presented their own challenges, according to Josh Nazmiyal. "Our work to make the colors look consistent has been painstaking," he says. 

Design No. SHB006-02 is a blend of wool and cotton hand spun yarns from Rug & Kilim's Scandinavian collection.

About Rug & Kilim's move into wholesale with the debut Scandinavian collection, he says, "Hopefully it is a good start.  I have sold carpets for $1,000 a square foot. If Scandinavian were any less exciting, I would not be doing it. I can honestly say that there have never been better flatweaves in the history of mankind. It's a big statement but I know it's true. 

"We are able to reproduce really good flatweave carpets: flatweaves are thick, reversible and that sit comfortably on the floor. By using classic Scandinavian mid-century patterns with new colors, we have created a new language in the world of design."