| THE 2016 RUG SHOW DRAWS BIG NAMES TO NEW YORK'S JAVITS CENTER, PART 1
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NEW YORK -- Top names from both sides of the aisle, including dealers, showrooms, designers, and rug suppliers, filled the Jacob K. Javits Center for four days in September for the 2016 edition of The Rug Show in New York City.
The excitement was palpable as doors opened on Saturday, Sept. 10, with the prospect of meeting celebrity rug designers and reviewing a who's who of luxury brands at the largest show since the event began as a not-for-profit organization in 2012.
More than 70 exhibitors from North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa displayed a deep and wide assortment of rugs, with enough diversity to give every attending buyer the opportunity to curate exclusive looks tailored to the personalities of their galleries and consumers.
Eileen Hampshire of Art to Walk On in Sarasota, Florida, arrived at The Rug Show at Javits early to get first dibs on rugs. Above, Reza Zollanvari and Sanjay Purohit give her a tour of new products.
The daunting task of seeing it all triggered hit lists, dealers told RugNews.com. Eileen and John Hampshire of Art to Walk On in Sarasota, Florida, arrived at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning to get first dibs on rugs from two of their favorite sources, Zollanvari and Wool & Silk.
Sarkis Tatosian of Oscar Isberian Rugs in Chicago described the show as "a sea of stunning design, with jaw-dropping innovation that was thrilling." Attending with his brother Oscar Tatosian, also a co-owner of the nearly 100-year-old business, Tatosian said some favorite stops were Yerra "with its extraordinary hides," and Wool & Silk, which had "visionary new silk pieces."
Even with our own hit list of exhibitors, we were unable to stop at every booth - but did manage to photograph 50. Our exclusive tour of The Rug Show at Javits introduced us to several new faces and allowed us to see many seasoned purveyors of the most cutting-edge designs in the world. What follows is Part 1 of our two part series -- make sure not to miss the rest of our exclusive coverage by reading Part Two.
AMER RUGS
The Amer Rugs team on hand for The Rug Show included (from left), Raj Choudhary, Vernon Singleton, Tanuj Gupta, Molly Mays, John McCaul and John Mendez.
Tanuj Gupta of Amer and Michael Bailey of Addison Dicus in Tampa, Florida, review the rug maker's hand-knotted collections.
AMINCO HOME
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David Banilevi, principal, Aminco, Inc., stands in-front of a new in-stock programmed collection, which debuted under the brand Aminco Home.
ANDKHUY
Amir Hashemi and Julia Santorio, owner of Classic Oriental Rugs & Home Furnishings in Milford, Connecticut, study the brilliant traditional designs at California-based Andkhuy's Rug Show booth.
ART RESOURCES
Max Moussavi of Art Resources is flanked by Anabel Valdez-Perconti and Lauren Ledene of Anabel's Oriental Rugs in Louisville, Kentucky.
AYKA DESIGN
Ayka Design's award-winning creative director and founder, Michelle K. Evans, poses for RugNews.com at her artfully designed stand.
AZAD USA
Akbar Azad of Los Angeles-based Azad USA showed elegant hand-knotted collections from traditional to new transitional designs.
AGS RUGS
Adnan Khawaja of AGS Rugs said that market favorites at his Rug Show booth were a dramatic selection of new Oushaks from Pakistan.
BANU HOME
Banu Home's rapidly expanding bespoke collection created a buzz with custom options for residential and hospitality. Shown, from left, are Lucas Liu of Banu Home in Mission Viejo, California; Anna Cocha, Woven Designs of San Francisco; Alex Kimia and Imran Dhedhi of Banu Home; and Bianca Vasconcelos Woven Design San Francisco.
BOKARA RUG
Parisa Abdollahi of Parisa Rugs & D??cor in Philadelphia browses rugs with Gabriel Vaknin of Bokara Rug in Secaucus, New Jersey.
CARAVAN RUG
Jay Nehouray of the Beverly Hills, California, Caravan Rug Co. hosts a group of Rug Show buyers.
CONCEPTS INTERNATIONAL
Jodie Kahn, and Barbara Kahn of Crystal Tree Carpet & Flooring in North Palm Beach, Florida, pose with Melanie Hayim and Jeff Koehler, at the Concepts International/Prestige Mills exhibit stand.
CREATIVE MATTERS
Carol Sebert president and co-founder of Creative Matters in Toronto debuts her brand at the Javits.
CREATIVE TOUCH
Baki Ildiz of Creative Touch in New Jersey and Daryoush Einalhory of Alexander's Antiques, New York.
EDELGRUND GMBH
The Hamburg, Germany-based Edelgrund team presents its array of vegetable-dyed Alasht kilims to Elizabeth Esfahani and Jeremiah Stapleton from Matt Camron Rugs & Tapestries' Washington, D.C., showroom.
FEIZY
Brothers Sarkis and Oscar Tatosian of Oscar Isberian Rugs in Chicago meet with Cameron Feizy to review Feizy's growing hand-knotted offerings.
FRENCH ACCENTS
Lobsang Younden, Istanbul Rug Co., Berkeley, California, and Aaron Tousi of French Accents in New York.
GLOBALCRAFT RUGS
Salesh Adhikary and Neel Panthi of Globalcraft Rugs in Houston stand in front of the company's popular antique reproduction.
HAROUNIAN RUGS INTERNATIONAL
Michael Pourvakil of Weavers Art in Toronto with Lee Harounian, HRI.
The HRI team holds up an intricate machine-made Masterpiece rug.
JAMES OPIE COLLECTION
Jim Opie filled the James Opie Collection booth at the Rug Show at Javits with his striking reproductions hand knotted in Afghanistan.
KNOT & COMPANY
Michael Sachse, Knot & Co., with buyers Lois Lichstein and Amy Lichstein of Amy Karyn Home, Hopewell, New Jersey.
Zubair Mohamed, owner, Knot & Co., and Sasan Salari, Salari Carpets, Vancouver, Canada.LAPCHI
Italian rug and textile designer Maurizio Battilossi from Turin, Italy, presents the new Battilossi for Lapchi collection, which is handmade in Punjab, India (read story).
Italian designer Maurizio Battilossi walks the Lapchi team and guests through his new collection launched at The Rug Show.
LIVING CARPETS 
Georg Vartyan of Living Carpets in Vienna debuts the company's artful line in the U.S. with a range of styles, from reworked classics to lavish textures.
LOLOI
Loloi, a first-time Rug Show at Javits exhibitor, has been building up the breadth of its hand-knotted collections, and the selection on show proved the company is a serious player in the category.
LOOMS OF PERSIA
George Haroonian, The Rug Warehouse, Los Angeles, and M.E. Akhavan Farshchi, Looms of Persia, North Bergen, New Jersey.
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