Rugnews.com editorial
HIGH END RIDING HIGH AT INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE FAIR
By Lissa Wyman
I meant to breeze in and out in one afternoon, but instead I spent 2 ½ days at last week's International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York's Jacob Javits Center.
It was by far the most interesting show I've attended this year. I saw many experimental designs, some so outrageous that I had to question how the piece functioned ("Ummm€¦is this a chair?€VbCrLf) Students from top design schools were there, serious or giddy, identified by body piercings and tattoos. I heard lots of German, Italian, Dutch and Brit-English. In short, it was way fun.
GREEN was the mood of the day - both as an ecological statement and as a fashion color. Apple green carpeting covered the convention floor and dried twigs were probably the most used display accessory throughout the building.
Rugs were an integral part of the organic moment. After all, wool is probably the most ancient and sustainable material known to man. Weaving is one of the world's first professions.
Okay, that's the crunchy granola part of my report. Here comes the nitty gritty.
ICFF is worlds apart from the mainstream rug business, where profits are razor thin and competition is cut-throat. There were about 50 rug companies at the show, and only a few exhibit at such shows as Atlanta, High Point, Las Vegas or the New York Textiles Market.
Not only was everything at the show fun, exciting, exotic and ecologically correct, it was very very VERY high end. Suggested retail rug prices started at about $100 per sq. ft. (about $5,400 for a 6 by 9) and went up to a whopping $450 per sq. ft. (about $24,300 for a 6 by 9). Mainstream rugs, on the other hand range from about $150 to $1,500 for a 6 by 9.
Who the heck buys these things? The exhibitors were too refined to just come out and say, "Rich people, you twit.€VbCrLf Instead, they talked about their clients as people who collaborate in the creative process - both designers and end users. They described a world where people wanted to own a unique piece of decorative art, something that had a story, and something they were willing to wait for until it was perfect. Programmed, re-orderable rugs? Horrors.
Aside from the price, display technique is the most obvious difference between the worlds of high fashion and high volume . I don't remember seeing even one swing-arm rack at the ICFF. From large, architect-designed structures like Warp & Weft and Odegard down to the smallest student booths, the rugs were displayed like works of art. Some were even framed. As a result, you could see each piece in its entirety. Each stood alone, not scrunched up on arms with 100 or so siblings. Each company showcased only a fraction of its line, but the presentation made each piece important.
Another big difference between the rugs at ICFF and big volume shows was that well over half of the rugs were hand-woven in Nepal. I jocularly pointed out to one exhibitor that, judging from this show, it looked like Nepal was the center of the rug world. "For this market, it is,€VbCrLf came the acerbic reply. By the way, some rugs at ICFF were actually hand made in the US, but no one wanted to tell me where.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the lack of profitability in the mainstream rug business. I didn't hear one moan about profits at the ICFF.
I'm certainly not suggesting that everyone's profit problems could be cured by suddenly producing only Nepalese-made rugs retailing for $5,000. What I would like to suggest, is that mainstream producers borrow some marketing and display ideas from their high end cousins.
Rugs are some of the most beautiful products used in the home, but most people in the business treat them like commodities. Maybe we would hear less moaning about profitability if rug makers put some glamour and excitement back in the business, some attention to merchandising and some pride unique designs and colors. At least it would make life more fun.
Rugnews.com welcomes your response. Contact us at Lwyman@rugnews.com.
5.30.06