Buyers and designers head to the fourth edition of CCNY to browse the latest area rug fashion introductions and weaves.
NEW YORK -- COVER Connect New York, held Sept. 14-16 at The Metropolitan Pavilion and adjacent Altman Building, brought longtime industry colleagues and fresh new faces together for the fourth annual and largest edition since its inception.
Forty exhibitors introduced New York buyers to their latest fashion-forward area rug designs, in an array of styles ranging from traditional Persian and Turkish classics to ultra-modern art pieces. What’s more, the trend to cut and sew custom rugs inspired exhibitors Momeni, Design Materials and Rebel Carpets to shine a spotlight on their luxury broadloom, which received a thumbs up from show shoppers. Also popular were one-of-a-kind and vintage rugs, which provided a striking counterpoint to cutting edge designs and innovative textures.
In this industry-exclusive, RugNews.com tours COVER Connect New York to catch up with designers and with buyers replenishing their store inventories and checking out the latest exquisite hand-made pieces.
MOMENI
At Momeni's debut at CCNY, Ali Momeni presents a curated selection of the company’s must-see one-of-a-kind
rugs along with its custom broadloom program to Hasan Jafri of Dover Rug & Home with three locations in Massachusetts.
REBEL CARPET
From left Michael Altman and Sean Antley of Kush Rugs, Portland, with Philip Byrne, owner, Rebel Carpet,
who tells RugNews its show hit was the debuting Inca performance rug of New Zealand wool and PET yarns, hanging.
RUG & KILIM
Cyrus Nazmiyal and Tibetano's Shahram Nazar catch up at the Rug & Kilim stand at CCNY 2024. They
are standing on a sold vintage hand-knotted Chinese Art Deco design, circa 1950-1960.
From left, Vincent Tacetta and Jeremy White, Veni Vidi Vici Flooring, Gotha, Florida, shop Rug & Kilim's
stand with Cyrus Nazmiyal. Shown hanging is a boucle texture Scandinavian Nu collection geometric.
RUG ICON
From left, Joe Sparicio, Patricia MacLelland, Erica Gregorio, Jay Pouya Nehouray (owner Rug Icon),
Gretchen Schwilk, of Steven King Carpets, Boston. They’re in front of the Tessa Surf wool and silk rug
and standing on a Wave collection wool rug.
SAMAD
Olesya Filippova, retail showroom manager with Floors Etc. in Timonium, Maryland, shops the Samad
booth with Bryon Hamilton. Shown, Ethereal collection's Celestial in multi
David Samad catches up with long-time colleague and client Ali Reza Talebi from Abrash Decorative Rug
Gallery in Dallas. Behind them is Samad's new Luxurious collection, crafted of the soft, long wool of Lincoln sheep.
Samad showcased a range of colorful geometric one-of-a-kind area rugs created by Afghan weavers in
collaboration with ABC Italia.
S&H RUGS
Lisa Vincenti and Carol Tisch of RugNews.com with the S&H team’s Ori Wilbush, founder, Emily Cupo,
and Rony Rodriguez. Behind them is vibrantly colored, broken and erased Persian design SH90938.
Bird motifs are making a resurgence and S&H Rugs' refreshed classic peacock pictorial motif rug (SH78259)
features a sparrow rendered in understated contemporary colors.
STARK CARPET/ASHLEY STARK HOME
From Left: Steve Codella of Ashley Stark Home, Arleem Fernandez, Mercedes Lanza, Gavin Broadfoot,
Hendra Broadfoot, all Carpet Source of Winter Park, Florida, and Jeffrey Koehler, Ashley Stark Home.
SUMAC ALPACA
Dallas-based Interior Resources' owner Paige Sowden, left, and Janice English stop by the Sumac Alpaca
stand to meet with co-founder Collie Verdicchio of the Vancouver rug company.
TISSAGE
Babak Falasiri, owner of Serapi Rug Gallery in Los Gatos, California, shops Tissage with Nikki Kapoor,
Georgia Pahl, and Nikhil Kapoor.
UNDERITALL
Underitall's John Thompson, founder and CEO, and Pete Trimboli, COO, gain traction at COVER Connect
with their new custom perforated rug pads made specifically for designers.
WENDY MORRISON DESIGN
Wendy Morrison and Sarah O’Connor in Wendy’s jewel-box-like stand brimming with her painterly designs.
Pictured: A Mughal Painting (hanging, left) and One Hundred Birds One Hundred Flowers, hanging, right.
WOOL & SILK
From left, Anka Tezcan, Wool & Silk, Ellen Kebabian and her father, John Kebabian of Kebabian’s Oriental
Rugs, New Haven, Connecticut, with Wool & Silk's Andrea Pahl and Erbil Tezcan.
A closer look at Wool & Silk's showstopping Glass Flowers rug designed by Georgia Pahl, hand knotted
in a blend of wool and silk.
ZOLLANVARI
From left, Ramin Zollanvari with Carmen and Michael Andonian, of Seattle's Andonian Rugs, at the Swiss-based
company's stand where the buyers gave a major thumbs up to the new Gabbehs Flora & Fauna Underwater
collection design. Pictured left is Impressionist Landscapes of my Fatherland from the Naïve & Abstract Landscapes collection.
-- Don't miss Part 1 of RugNews.com's exclusive CCNY Tour