"Our assortment is a story about quality and texture at an affordable price point," said Julie Rosenblum, vice president of licensing, Nourison. These new collections have an understated, elegant, iconic look and feel to them. When you see them your brain automatically clicks -- you know they look like Calvin Klein."
The new rugs reflect a creative direction Calvin Klein is taking in apparel and home which reverses that of its former chief creative officer Raf Simons, whose tenure with Calvin Klein, Inc. began in 2016 and ended in 2018. "Our goal for the brand is to gain back the confidence of brick and mortar [area rug] buyers to place the line in their stores," Rosenblum said.
The large-scale geometric patchwork of the Calvin Klein Northwest collection's hair-on-hide handmade design offers cross-stitch detailing for added value.
Nourison is offering the Calvin Klein rug assortment in a good, better, best pricing program which includes hand-knotted, hand-woven and hair-on-hide handmade designs.
"We introduced three new collections [Abyss, Northwest, and Riverstone] at fall market and earlier this year we rolled out three other collections [Agadir, Katmandu, Pretoria]. These new collections enhanced those earlier lines to give continuity to the brand's relaunch."
The looks are classic Calvin Klein, featuring a minimalist sophistication in a trademark palette of cool blues, smoky grays and ivory, beige and mocha. To offset the neutral colors, the introductions are rich with texture: the flowing striated-linear design of Abyss, the large-loop Berber weave of Riverstone, and cross-stitching on the geometric hair-on-hide Northwest.
Riverstone by Calvin Klein features a chunky loop Berber weave, a top look at Market for its combination of texture, natural colors, and a sharp price point.
"The relaunch of Calvin Klein area rugs exclusively manufactured by Nourison is a direct reflection of the iconic DNA of the Calvin Klein brand. It's a story of layers upon layers of textures to add a subtle and unassuming tone which is truly Calvin Klein," Rosenblum explained, adding that Riverstone, with its chunky weave, was the top look at fall market. "It is a story about texture in natural colorways at a retail that is very affordable."
Indeed, the latest Calvin Klein introductions present a strong value proposition offering a high-end look at tenable prices. The new hand-knotted Abyss features a $1,999 retail price with a cut and loop weave; Riverstone is offered at $1,300, while Northwest retails at $2,449.
Abyss hand-woven area rugs from Calvin Klein have a subtle sheen and flowing linear pattern, adding unique textural variations in the high-low pile.
At the High Point event Alex Peykar, Nourison president, told customers that the rug maker researched consumers to determine the values they are looking for at retail in the age of online shopping. "We found consumers are looking for fashion as they always have; they are looking for color as they always have. They are looking for quality as they always have. But nowadays those are just not enough -- they are also looking for value. They want all of that but still at price that is really sweet in terms of what they are getting."
Peykar continued, "These collections and the retail price for what they offer, give consumers the perceived value of style, quality and practicality. We really hit it right on the mark."
Pretoria, hand-made of mohair wool in a neutral solid grid-mosaic texture, reflects iconic Calvin Klein colors and simplicity of design.
Rosenblum added that when a rug that meets the design, quality and value criteria outlined by Peykar it will resonate with consumers, "but the addition of the Calvin Klein name absolutely brings it home.
"We worked very closely with the [Calvin Klein] design team to create these designs and colors, and also to create lifestyle images that are able to really show what each rug looks like in a room setting that reflects the Calvin brand. And that is something we know our retailers need when they're advertising as well as for the visual experience on the selling floor."
New lifestyle images for Calvin Klein area rugs were prominently displayed at Nourison's High Point showroom alongside sophisticated 2019 debut collections, Pretoria (left) and Abyss (right).