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 Clockwise, from top left, Langdon LTD's Phoebe, left, and Delia Langdon; Mastour Galleries' Tibetan abstract metallic designs; Eliko's Ariel and Celia Basally; Madisons adds to its tiled cowhide range; Pasargad's Mongolian fur stools and chair; Art Hide's Kura Perkins; and Auskin's gallery-like rug display
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NEW YORK - NY Now, which show executives boast features the newest and hottest designs for the middle market, saw rug exhibitors showcasing an eye-catching assortment of hides, furs and metallics. Art Hide, Auskin, Eliko, Langdon LTD, Madisons, Mastour and Pasargad all offered an assortment of attention-grabbing shimmering or fluffy designs.
RugNews.com presents a comprehensive style guide to NY Now, which boasts more and more rug manufacturers with each edition, and takes a look at this luxurious trend in Part 1 of a three-part NY Now style series.
Though they started popping up last year, hides with metallic touches, rugs with metallic finishes, and rugs and furnishings in fluffy furs were reworked for winter audiences. Fresh designs included warm, shimmering copper accents, bursts of vivid color and super shaggy animal hide rugs and (more often) stools and pillows.
Cowhide design studio Art Hide, a maker of rugs, decor and accessories, made its NY Now debut. Repeat NY Now exhibitor Eliko Rugs not only expanded its space but also added to its product assortment, offering Angora skins and home furnishings and accessories done up in the shaggy fur. Likewise, Pasargad, which displayed its new Moroccan and transitional Manhattan collections, also debuted a range of Mongolian fur-clad furnishings. Auskin, which participated in several NY Now shows, grew its exhibition space so that it could better display its collection of sheepskin rugs. And Mastour and Madisons add fresh metallic inflected designs to their offering.
NY Now, which ran from Jan. 31-Feb. 3, boasted a 22 percent growth in the number of rug exhibitors compared to the summer 2015 event, said Randi Mohr, NY Now co-coordinator and show executive (read full story).
ART HIDE
Kura Perkins, co-owner of Art Hide, re-invents the classic cowhide focusing on ethically sourced leather and innovative designs.
First-time NY Now exhibitor Art Hide, which also participated in Atlanta and Las Vegas markets earlier this year, offers up some new ideas in the cowhide rug segment. Based in Australia, the company works with ethically sourced leather rugs, decor and accessories, and introduced a vegan-friendly Digital Hide collection crafted in China of chenille from cotton.
"AmericasMart was a big show for ordering; Vegas was good for meeting with designers; but NY Now has been a bit quieter, though we have made a lot of designer contacts," said co-founder Kura Perkins, who runs the six-year-old business alongside her sister, and recently launched a new brand of leather decor and fashion accessories called Amigos de Hoy.
Art Hides vegan-friendly all-cotton chenille Digital Hides and lustrous diamond-pattern Arlequin leather rug feature coppery accents.
AUSKIN
Paige Bigelow Gear and Mandy Coghlin of sheepskin rug and accessories brand Auskin posed in front of the latest hides.
Paige Bigelow Gear and Mandy Coughlin of Auskin U.S. grew the Australian sheepskin rug and home accessories manufacturer's exhibit space for the winter edition. At this fair, Auskin presented sheepskin rugs in a gallery-type setting and hung on the walls, which captured the attention and interest of buyers. "Yesterday was phenomenal," said Paige Bigelow Gear. "We took an extra 10 feet to showcase rugs because people didn't know we do rugs."
Auskin expanded its booth so it could present its rugs in an art gallery format and the response was strong.
ELIKO
Third-generation Eliko cousins Ariel and Celia Basalely showed off the company's new Angora skins, stools and pillows.
New York based Eliko Antique & Decorative Rugs improved its curb appeal by not only doubling the size of its booth but also moving it closer to the show's entrance. "We doubled our space and moved a little bit closer up and it has worked out really well," said the company designer Dena Richards, noting that during NY Now, Eliko meets mostly with regional designers.
Eliko displayed its new Angora skins, stools and pillows -- an extension of its product offering.
LANGDON LTD
Sisters Phoebe, left, and Delia Langdon of their eponymous design atelier, Langdon Luxury Textile Design, focused on hand-made design-driven textiles and rugs.
Australian hand-woven home textiles studio Langdon Luxury Textile Design debuted at NY Now last summer, and for the winter 2016 edition presented a range of metallic inflected rugs. Sharing a booth a home furnishings company gave Langdon the opportunity to cross-merchandise its range of textiles and rugs. The young company featured a jute collection of doormats handwoven in India in three sizes, with gold thread stripes and fringing.
In addition, its popular peach and gold Stripe Circle rug made from 100 percent cotton is also hand crafted in India. "Our jute rugs sell well in the U.S.," said Delia Langdon, who runs the company along with her sister Phoebe, noting that buyers have been picking up the company's pillows, which feature printed designs in geometric patterns and florals.
Langdon's latest metallic infused hand-woven rug pairs pure cotton and gold metallic thread.
MADISONS
Peter de Voog, co-founder of Madisons, along with his mother Madi Ferencz, reported a busy opening day.
Madisons, a maker of cowhide rugs and accessories, returns to NY Now, showcasing its newest tiled hair-on-hide rug designs (MH222, MH287, MH289). In addition, the company continued to present its cowhide covered range of benches, stools, and travel bags, launched in 2015. "We have been slammed at the show," said Madi Ferencz on Monday. "Atlanta was good, and we heard that Vegas was good. So it seems foot traffic is up all around."
Madisons latest hair-on-hide designs (MH287 and MH289) are at the top of the display.
MASTOUR GALLERIES
Joseph Mastour of Mastour Galleries -- a long-time NY Now participant -- spent the show meeting with retailers.
The spotlight at Mastour Galleries' generous booth was on its modern Tibetan designs, including the new glamorous collection of Abstract Metallics. Combining metallic and silk yarns, the range features a Nepalese weave and is comprised of 12 designs.
Mastour highlighted its new modern Tibetan collection, Abstract Metallics, which combines sparkling metallic and silk yarns.
PASARGAD
Pasargad's Edward Verdiev and NY Now Buyer Debbie Gaelen of New Jersey lifestyle boutique Beauty Lounge relaxed in a vignette of Pasargad's traditional offerings, shown is the PS36 Turkish Ferehan rug.
In addition to presenting its new Moroccan and transitional Manhattan collections to NY Now attendees, Pasargad took the opportunity to show off its latest furnishings, a category it debuted at NY Now last year and has expanded with this market. At NY Now, the company debuted a Mongolian fur-covered stool and armchair, as well as a cowhide wrapped storage cube.
Pasargad presented its rugs in a contemporary vignette that included its new Mongolian fur covered furnishings.