EXCLUSIVE: FIVE TOP TRENDS IN RUGS DEBUT AT MAISON ET OBJET
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PARIS -- Area rug exhibitors offered plenty of fresh new looks, and in many cases assumed the leadership role in soft surface color and design at the January 2018 edition of Maison et Objet.
Set within glamorous halls with exhibit stands from regal to inspirational and avant-garde, the international trade show once again bolstered its status as the event for design diversity and emerging trends that celebrate "the art of living".
In this exclusive shopping tour, RugNews.com takes you inside the stands at M&O to see the newest fashion on offer at some of the most notable names in high-end designer area rugs. Along with retailers and interior designers, we scoured every hall and came up with five major directions that will be influencing rug trends in the months - and perhaps years ahead.
Show shoppers follow an on-point Millennial pink path through the halls at the January 2018 edition of Maison et Objet in Paris.
Trend 1: The New Pink
When it comes to color, pink reigned supreme at Maison et Objet 2018, replacing the traditional "red" carpet used for wayfinding throughout the fair, and seen on everything from upholstered pieces to accessories -- even the walls of exhibit stands themselves.
Designs for 2018 -- including rugs -- displayed a continued zeal for the color known as Millennial Pink. While mid-range brands used the color with minimal change from previous years, luxury brands introduced a barely-there hue with hints of terra cotta or salmon, and paired it with the trend for Postmodernism. This new shade reflects the pale pastel signature color range of Cecilie Manz, Maison et Objet's 2018 Designer of the Year.
The Maison et Objet stand for furniture maker Royal Stranger features newer tones of pink in case goods and area rugs.
Trend 2: Postmodernism/Memphis
The exuberant shapes and colors of 1980s Postmodernism and Memphis design were the single-most important trend after color, as highlighted by a graffiti quip written on a whiteboard at the Lintex stand: "The eighties called and they're not hanging up".
The original Postmodernism interpreted aspects of earlier design periods such as the lozenge shapes on the 1908 'wedding tower' in Darmstadt, Germany. Similar shapes define 2018 Postmodern-inspired designs. Mae Engelgeer's Bliss Big and Bliss Wall rugs for CC-Tapis feature retro lozenge curves, extending wings and rainbow-shaped arcs in the au courant Cecilie Manz pastel palette. Elena Salmistraro references the shapes, stripes, and ideograms of Memphis design in her Cartesio collection for CC-Tapis.
Bliss Big and Bliss Wall by Mae Engelgeer for CC-Tapis (above); a design from the Cartesio collection by Elena Salmistraro for CC-Tapis (below).
Trend 3: Stained Glass Frame Effects
Patricia Urquiola's Rotazioni rugs for CC-Tapis feature repeating '80s style rolling pin shapes paired with the trend for strong black outlines. An Instagram post by Portuguese rug company Ferreira da Sá reveals that one of the inspirations for their framed rug designs was the stained glass rose window at Notre Dame de Paris cathedral with its dark lead 'came' border around each piece of colored glass.
Recalling lead-framed stained glass windows are Patricia Urquiolo's Rotanzioni rugs (above) and black-outlined Gatsby Kilim Dhurrie by Kilombo Rugs combines the stained-glass trend with Postmodern colors (below).
The Cubist-style abstract head in the Mira rug by Rug Society reflects several current rug trends: the rainbow arcs of Postmodernism paired with Memphis-style black and white stripes passages of heterogeneous pink pop art prints.
The Cubist-inspired Mira by Rug Society, and abstract representation of Cleopatra, is hand-tufted in botanical silk and mohair.
Trend 4: Heterogeneous Rug Designs
Rugs weaving multiple stories through combinations of unrelated textures as well as divergent styles or pattern combinations with a single design were seen across multiple stands at M&O. These heterogeneous rug designs fed consumers' increasing demand for hand crafted, customized and personalized area rugs.
Serge Lesage introduces Paysage 1, part of a 'neutral landscape' series in the Impressions rug collection by Charlotte Jonckheer.
Styles ranged from minimal color and pattern at Serge Lesage and Nanimarquina, to maximal pattern Golran. A monochrome palette for Charlotte Jonckheer's Impressions collection for Serge Lesage is a study in greys, black, and white. She describes her Paysage 1 & 2 rugs as neutral landscapes where heterogeneous shapes can be interpreted as a house, fields, or a road.
Tres Vegetal, crafted of undyed hemp. debuts in Nanimarquina's Tres collection featuring 1970s-style texture and heterogeneous patchwork effect..
Nanimarquina's Tres Vegetal rugs -- the newest addition to the brand's Tres collection -- features sophisticated yet rustic 1970s-style using undyed hemp fiber with intentional irregularities created by crossing mixed diameter fibers. Each rug has differently sized sections stitched together as a whole with 1970s-inspired 'macramé' fringes. Golran's Hunua dollection by Piero Lissoni combines different tonal weaves in each rug, creating "a visual whole that gives the sense of a precious and varied mosaic".
Golran's Hunua collection by Piero Lissoni kickstarts the heterogeneous trend in area rug design.
The extreme end of the heterogeneous rug trend mixes iterations of Postmodern and Memphis shapes with vibrant color. Alex Proba's One and the Other collection for CC-Tapis captures the spirit of the trend 'to create an abstract representation of unique worlds colliding and coexisting in one surface'.
The One and the Other collection by Alex Proba for CC-Tapis.
Dimore Studios -- winner of the 2014 M&O Designer of the Year award -- creates distinct worlds where their passion for contradiction is evident in their signature style of heterogeneous strip collages. Their Paralleli collection at Golran exploits and celebrates their deliberate mix of odd patterns and colors and mixed materials, including metallic fibers.
Dimore Studios Paralleli collection for Golran.
Trend 5: Bespoke Folk
"Bespoke Folk" is a sophisticated evolution of the tribal trend. Moving away from the strong market for vintage or new Moroccan rugs, Bespoke Folk instead interprets global ethnic and vernacular designs as luxury accessories.
Jaipur Rugs' Tattvam collection designed by celebrity interior designer Gauri Khan interprets traditional Indian rural buildings. Loosely translated as 'elements', the Tattvam collection zooms in on a single rustic element for each rug.
Lavishly textured, the Sahaj riug designed by Gauri Khan for Jaipur, debuts at Maison et Objet.