The pavilion will also raise awareness of GoodWeave's efforts with a gallery showcasing the organization's work on to protect children and other ethical issues. GoodWeave has freed nearly 3,600 children from weaving looms.
"Thanks to GoodWeave's efforts, consumers can know immediately if they are purchasing a child labor free rug by flipping it over to find the GoodWeave label on the back," stated Murtaza Ahmadi, NYICS president. "We know that more and more, consumers look for brands that offer transparency, from ingredients in their skincare products to GMO's in their food. NYICS through the GoodWeave Pavilion will help educate retailers, interior designers and carpet brands on how they can embrace their customer's values and communicate the benefits of the GoodWeave label."
Manufacturers must meet GoodWeave's high certification standards and agree to random, independent inspections to earn the GoodWeave label. Nouveau Afghan and Amy Helfand are two GoodWeave carpet brands showing in the GoodWeave Pavilion at NYICS.
Nouveau Afghan was founded by a former U.S. Marine (Rucker Culpepper) and the Afghan interpreter (Alem Haidary) assigned to his platoon. Alem and his family were endangered by his support for NATO troops, and he had no choice but to spend all of his savings to move himself and his family into hiding.
It was then that Alem and Rucker decided to leverage Alem's expertise and relationships in the luxury rug trade to start Nouveau Afghan, create opportunity for Alem's family and community, and change Afghanistan. They've gone on to create the Wafa Dar Strategic Education Fund to pursue a long-term, coherent strategy for equipping Afghans with the skills they need to earn a wage.
Amy Helfand made her first rug for a show in the gallery at Wave Hill, the famed public garden in the Bronx. She immediately fell in love with the tactile, luxurious, and soulful quality the weaving brought to her artwork and was inspired to further explore this new medium.
Her first official collection of rugs was well received by the public and the press at Brooklyn Designs in 2005 and her business was launched. Since then, she has designed for her own line, as well as created many commissioned pieces for both residential and commercial environments.
The GoodWeave Pavilion will be at NYICS from Sunday, Sept. 11 through Tuesday, Sept. 13. Register to attend at www.NYICS.com