| BOHEMIAN & TRIBAL LOOKS HEADLINE 2017 RUG COLLECTIONS -- PART 1 |
ATLANTA -- At the January Atlanta International Area Rug Market, the most prevalent stories in rug introductions for 2017 included a unanimous emphasis on Bohemian looks, an increase in beautiful abstracts, and innovations in yarn technology and machine-weaving.
In this exclusive multi-part series, RugNews.com analyzes the trends on display at dozens of AmericasMart Atlanta showrooms for the first rug premieres of the year, and catches up with other vendors who launched their 2017 lines at Las Vegas Market.
Part 1 focuses on the breathtaking array of Bohemian and tribal looks on show, with their primitive or folksy motifs and palettes of earth tones, muted jewel tones, and the resurgence of organic shades of indigo.
Our review of best-of-market picks from some of the top showrooms reveals that the line between Boho and classic traditional rug patterns has blurred. The common denominator for these new traditionals is intentional wearing or semi-erased patterns that are reimagined in contemporary colors such as fuchsia, yellow, orange and purple.
Oriental Weavers' award-winning display of one of its winter market best-sellers, the new for 2017 Bohemian collection.
Oriental Weavers went all-in on the look with a walloping 16 initial designs in its debuting Bohemian collection, a top seller at winter markets. OW's show-stopping vignettes of the collection's fun, modern takes on classic medallions and reworked traditional motifs helped garner a Visual Display Award from AmericasMart at the January market.
Echoing a common refrain, Jeffrey Vaughn, vice president of sales and marketing at Rizzy Home, told RugNews.com: "Boho for us is a big direction." He said coordinated displays of Bohemian style rugs and home textile products were particularly well received. Several of the company's new collections showed a focus on Boho with an Arts and Crafts feel or modified tribal patterns in brighter colors.
Bohemian looks are also top of mind at Orian, according to Scott Miller, director of design. "We are going for a very global bazaar, hippie look, with layers of distress on traditional designs," he said. Indigo, paprika red and orange dominated the color palettes of the company's bohemian-style rugs.
At Orian, Bohemian looks were front and center in the company's style vignettes, many paired with Sherwin-Williams colors.
Matthew Rouhanian of Dynamic Rugs noted, "We'e seeing a lot of interest in traditional Persian rugs in fashion colors, such as fuchsia." The company's new Mod collection was a best seller, and designed specifically to appeal to Millennials.
Reza Momeni said designers at Momeni are responding to evolving consumer tastes when it comes to the Boho fashion phenomenon. "While there are always color trends within the industry, the biggest design trend we've seen is the growth and change of Boho Chic. Initially driven specifically by design, this trend has expanded to elements like thick, plush piling, tassels and the addition of rich colors." he said.
Make sure to continue reading our market fashion report with
Part 2 to discover how companies from Momeni to Trans-ocean reworked the genre.
AMER RUGS
Amer's Windsor collection, machine made of polyester and polypropylene for a high-low effect, assumes a sultry look in distressed blue and brown.
Amer explores Bohemian style in an array of designs from the new machine-made Windsor collection (the company's first-ever machine made collections premiered in Atlanta), to its hand-tufted Valencia range, which brings a refined gypsy flavor to scrolling florals and Spanish tile motifs.
A whimsical floral from the Valencia collection by Amer is hand-tufted of blended New Zealand wool and art silk.
BOKARA RUG
Tribal motifs in the Soho collection from Bokara Rug signal a return to bold colors.
Bokara's answer to the Boho look is its Soho collection of vibrantly colored, 100 percent wool rugs. The rugs incorporate a combination of Caucasian, Persian, and Southwestern motifs, with about 17 individual colors in each pattern.
COURISTAN
This Easton collection design from Couristan illustrates the Boho Chic look in a fashion-right black and white colorway.
Among the best-selling introductions at Couristan was a Wilton woven Easton collection design of 100% heat-set Courtron polypropylene with European influence and a vintage erased look. Couristan also scored points with buyers with the new Velvet collection of indoor-outdoor rugs with a casual, earth-toned, organic old world vibe.
A detail of a design in Couristan's new Velvet collection of indoor-outdoor rugs illustrates its high-low effect in a flatweave construction.
DYNAMIC RUGS
The Mod collection from Dynamic Rugs features a hip Boho take on traditional classics.
Mod is Dynamic Rugs' offering for a younger consumer who vacillates between a traditional and a contemporary look. The classic traditional motifs are updated with eye-popping fashion colors like fuchsia, turquoise and orange, then treated to an aged vintage look with distressing. The collection is machine made of 100 percent polypropylene.
The best-selling Quartz collection, introduced at summer 2016 markets in soft neutrals, gets updated for 2017 with deep blues and golds. Dynamic Rugs received an America's Magnificent Carpet Award for Quartz at the January market in Atlanta (read full story).
A Dynamic Rugs' best-seller, this Quartz collection design is executed in blues and golds in a 50-50 blend of viscose and polyester.
FEIZY
At Feizy, a selection of designs from Boho to transitional in the new Emerson collection are unified with orange and teal as common denominator.
At its new Las Vegas showroom, Feizy made a splash with the debuting machine woven Emerson collection, which is made in its own factory. "We've taken high end designs and done them in machine made for Emerson. There's a little bit of everything in the collection. Color brings the look together because you can mix and match these colors with others in our existing creel," said Erin Smidt, director of product development, Feizy. She noted that eight colors are planted in the creel for Emerson, to give 16-plus shades.
Feizy introduced tribal designs in a natural palette in its hand-knotted wool Twain collection, and unmistakably Bohemian looks in Abelia, a tufted wool line in neutral tones accented with warm pops of color. Designs in the Abelia collection bridge traditional and contemporary decorating styles.
Illustrating classic Boho style, the Feizy Abelia collection combines deep natural tones and pops of warm color in tufted wool designs.
FJ KASHANIAN
F.J. Kashanian led the Bohemian trend with this best-selling Suzani design, shown in refreshed colorways over the course of several markets.
One of the first to introduce the Bohemian look in rugs, F.J. Kashanian has been running a fun over-scaled design for more than a year in eye-popping brights and jewel tones. Though new styles were shown at Atlanta market, Jonathan Kashanian predicts the look may be waning in the designer market he serves. "Yes Boho is still important [at the high end]. But of course, the more saturated the market gets in anything, demand decreases," he told RugNews.com.
Styled for the designer trade, F.J. Kashanian takes a sophisticated approach to Boho patterns and colors.
JAIPUR LIVING
A display in Jaipur Living's AmericasMart showroom reveals the rug maker's uniquely soft take on reworked classics with an organic feel.
At Jaipur Living, traditional motifs are modernized and imbued with fashion right colors in the best-selling Kai collection. Hand knotted in 100 percent wool for top notch quality and a timeless, vintage chic look, the collection was featured in one of the trend vignettes that earned the company a Visual Display award from AmericasMart Atlanta at the 2017 Atlanta International Rug Market (
read full story).
One of Jaipur Living's winter market best-sellers, the popular Modify design from the new Kai collection exudes a Boho vibe in on-point tones of blue and navy.
KALEEN
Bohemian knows no bounds with the new Weathered indoor-outdoor collection from Kaleen.
Kaleen takes the Boho trend indoors and out with two market hits: the handmade in-out 'Weathered' collection, and the hand-tufted wool Global Inspirations. The company steps up outdoor decorating with Weathered's bright modern colorways combined with old world designs, unique distressing technique, and UV protection. Global Inspirations designs feature a mélange of influences from Europe to Asia, hand-finishing and a unique dyeing technique.
Kaleen uses the finest wool in its Global Inspirations hand-tufted rugs with motifs influenced by decor from all around the world.
KAS RUGS
A Generations rug from Kas with erased look and lots of texture presents the casual side of Boho style for a hip young consumer.
Kas Rugs' new Generations collection explores vintage looks in a variety of updated traditional styles from casual Boho to sophisticated Persian designs. A winter market best-seller, Generations is machine-woven of polyester and viscose for sheen and a high-low textured effect that bridges contemporary and traditional styles. Bohemian fans will find the look abounds in the Reina collection, which is machine-made of polypropylene frisee yarn in vivid jewel colors. Both collections are made in Turkey.
High end designer styling characterizes the machine-woven Boho designs of the Reina collection from Kas Rugs.
LOLOI
A bestseller at winter markets, Loloi's powerloomed Anastasia collection features ornate, distressed traditionals in modern colorways.
Loloi won two Americas Magnificent Carpet Awards at Atlanta Market, one for licensing with its blockbuster Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines program (read full story). The company also partners with Justina Blakeney, the arbiter of New Bohemian style, with a collection of rugs and pillows that puts Loloi in a strong leadership position in the Boho design genre.
But the big news at winter markets was Loloi's the launch of ED Ellen DeGeneres, a potpourri of designs including seven rug collections, all personally curated by Ellen herself (
read full story).
At Loloi's showrooms, vignettes for the best-selling Anastasia collections illustrated the Boho look with bold traditional motifs in machine made rugs of polypropylene and polyester.
Inspired by Ellen's eye for tribal design, the handcrafted wool Tribu collection's all-over patterns are modernized with trending color combinations.