05112015 Rug Exhibitors Eye Latin Markets as Maison and Objet Debuts in Miami

U.S. rug importers Anadol Rug Co., Ariana Rugs, French Accents, Nalbandian, Nuloom, and Warp & Weft are among the 17 exhibitors showing rugs at the Miami event. Less familiar names include Ditozzi Design Rugs & Carpets, a custom house in New York City, and Auskin USA, the Colorado-based arm of an Australian maker of sheepskin, cowhide and alpaca rugs. 

Scattered between the show's interior design and home decoration sections are rug companies Stepvi of Turkey; Miho Unexpected Things and Sahrai Milano of Italy; Edition Bougainville and Serge Lesage of France; Windy Hill of Belgium; Vallila of Finland; and Garbarino of Monaco.

"The show sold out quickly; they will definitely need a larger venue next year," said Sue Nalbandian of Whittier, CA-based Nalbandian. "We have been exhibitors at Maison & Objet in Paris for the past five years, and were thrilled when they decided to come to America. The Paris event draws the top players from all over the world, but we really liked the idea of reaching international clients with a U.S. show, so we did not do Maison in Paris this past January," Nalbandian explained.

Nalbandian will show vintage one of a kind Art Deco rugs hand crafted in Turkey, and a line of flatweave Art Deco designs inspired by Scandinavian textiles from the 1940's. "We also expect to do very well with our over-dyed vintage rugs, which we refinish and dye in our own facilities in California. Demand for over-dyed rugs continues to grow - they are a very important category for us," she said.

"We are going to show examples representative of our modern collection, our flat weaves, and hand knotted rugs from India and Nepal," Krivitsky said, noting that Warp & Weft will also show next week at ICFF. She expects the company's Kia Sar collection to be a hit with this audience. Inspired by early 19th century the antique Mazandaran kilims of Iran, the fine flat weave rugs that are produced in narrow panels on small village looms with hand-spun, naturally dyed wool. The weave produces simple yet complex compositions that utilize bold graphic contrasts alongside color effects of the greatest subtlety.

According to Emre Serezli, sales manager for the U.S. and Latin America at Anadol Rug, the company decided to exhibit at Maison & Objet Americas because of positive feedback from European distributors who are regular attendees at the Paris show. "We believe that this show will be a great stepping stone to open up to Central and Latin American markets for us," Serezli said, who believes these customers will be more interested in the company's contemporary lines.

Two highlights in this category are the contemporary Vestige and Vintage collections. "In the Vestige collection we salvage semi antique Turkish rugs, dye them in contemporary colors and hand-stitch them into our signature patchwork rugs. In the Vintage collection we transform semi-antique Turkish rugs through the power of intense color," he explained.

Kate Koesterer of Nuloom says the company is also looking to expand its South American export business. Koesterer expects the new Chloe collection, which is digitally printed to replicate photos of vintage tiles from Spain, Italy, Portugal and Iran, to do well with the Latin American market. "The intricate printed patterns create a ground breaking design aesthetic that has not been done before.  The pattern influences are Middle Eastern, and the colors are Mediterranean, Mixing cool blue hues and vibrant purples makes each rug burst with life," she said of the Chloe collection which is made of 100% nylon and printed in Turkey.