Rug buyers and designers turn out to view the latest area rug innovations at COVER Connect New York.
NEW YORK -- The fourth annual edition of boutique area rug trade event COVER Connect New York, held from Sept. 14-16, continued its upward growth trajectory with 40+ luxury rug exhibitors showcasing their latest design and weaving innovations.
The boutique rug trade show, which now includes the Metropolitan Pavilion and the adjacent Altman Building, located at 125 W. 18th St., was brimming with upscale rug retailers and designers eager to see their favorite international brands as well as 10 new exhibitors showing for the first time.
Browsing the busy aisles, attendees witnessed an overwhelming move to bold bright colors in both contemporary rugs and brilliantly updated classics. Several show shoppers told RugNews they were on the hunt for luxury fibers, with alpaca and mohair topping their lists. For the first time, performance rugs appeared in this show, designed to stake a claim – and their rightful place -- in the fashion rug arena. Indistinguishable from natural fiber rugs these sustainable offerings ticked all the boxes for color, texture and patterning.
Scandinavian designs were particularly popular, showing up in new textures and colors as well as in the performance categories. Colorful Moroccans also captured the eye, as did the latest transitional designs in directional palettes. But the biggest showstoppers were the painterly botanical and fauna designs so impeccably woven as to give new meaning to the catch phrase "Art for the Floor."
Follow RugNews.com as we tour the luxurious new area rugs on show to discover top hits and follow buyers looking to update inventories while they explore the latest developments in this exclusive two-part series.
AMER RUGS
Amer's Raj Choudhary shows Sarkis Tatosian, Oscar Isberian Rugs, his company's new COVER Connect
introductions and one-of-a-kind rugs.
At the Amer Rugs stand, visitors gave a thumbs up to the oxidized wool Mahal collection featured, hanging,
and shopped from stacks of one-of-a-kinds curated for the show.
ANADOL RUG CO.
Ummi Gunturk of Anadol Rug Co. in Atlanta catches up with customer Turabi Topal, owner of Seattle-based
Turabi Rug Gallery and checks out the newest selection of Oushaks.
BESPOKE TIBETAN CARPET
The Tapis Decor team wraps up its tour of the Bespoke Tibetan Carpets stand. From left, Jessica Young,
Jackie Cox (owner), and Marco Rebollar Garcia.
CARAVAN RUGS
From left, Caravan's Mois Refoua with Emily Fabel and Amanda Birnie, both with Curio Rugs in Minneapolis
at the Los Angeles-based exhibitor's stand where they shopped vintage pieces.
Caravan offered stacks of Vintage Revival collection and one-of-a-kind vintage area rugs and runners for CCNY.
CREATIVE MATTERS
From left, Ali McMurter, MP of Toronto's Creative Matters, with Alireza 'Abrash' Talebi, Abrash Rugs president,
Dallas, and Edgar Podzemny, Madison Lily Rugs. Talebi was re-stocking Macrame collection rugs, a client favorite.
Creative Matters returned to CCNY and showcased its luxurious cutting-edge Vanguard collection hand-
knotted of 100 percent Tibetan wool.
CREATIVE TOUCH
Baki Ildiz and Chelsea Novakoski of Creative Touch introduce CCNY buyers to the company's Luna collection
of modern geometric hand-knotted rugs.
Creative Touch rolled out a new design, 2343-1 in light blue, in the hand-knotted Rejuvenation collection,
offering an ultra-low-pile finish and special tie-dyeing technique.
HAROUNIAN RUGS INTERNATIONAL (HRI)
HRI's Greg Jordt and Diana Samuels greet Fine Rugs of Charleston’s Rob Leahy and Samuel Carroll.
An HRI success story is the company's high-quality Retro collection, hand-knotted of wool with an intricate
texture and featuring Oushak motifs in contemporary colorations.
JAIPUR LIVING
Ayushi Guor and Dinesh Choudhary of Jaipur Living flank Turabi Topal, owner of Turabi Rug Gallery,
in front of a textured solid rug woven in India of Afghani wool with jute foundation.
KNOTS RUGS
Sanjay Purohit, far left and Bonnie Sutton, owner, Knots Rugs, center, with The Scarabs' Tara French
and Brady Anthony. They’re in front of the Sweetpeas rug from Knots’ collaboration with Rediscovered By
artist Charlotte Krone.
LAPCHI
The fashion news at Lapchi focused on new weaving innovations in its all-Nepalese production. “It’s all about
what lies beneath,” said Nathan Tucker, pointing to the back of this wool and silk Fossil rug with five different textures
from the Narama collection.
-- Continue reading Part 2 of RugNews.com's exclusive CCNY tour.