RugNews scopes out the latest area rug hits and the buyers who shopped Las Vegas Market's winter edition.
LAS VEGAS -- Winter Las Vegas Market introduced market-goers to hundreds of new area rugs, and top styles included natural looks, both in the handmade and machine-made categories, in materials ranging from plush undyed hand-knotted wools to performance constructions that rival the look and feel of indoor only rugs.
Updated traditional patterns that seamlessly merge old and new continue to be top sellers across myriad weaves and constructions. Whether recast in subtle palettes or more vibrant, color-drenched designs, winter debuts also spanned price points from entry level machine washable and performance qualities to dense heirloom hand-knotted pieces. In addition, textured solids continue to gain ground, and the appetite for sophisticated abstract motifs, both in the machine-woven and hand-made categories, remains robust as well.
In the industry's only area rug tour of Las Vegas Market, RugNews.com continues the coverage in Part 2 of this two-part series. Make sure not to miss Part 1, which kicked off the reporting.
KALATY
Kalaty's Larry Haines, right, walks Richard, center, and Harold Lossing of Old World Rugs, San Luis Obispo, California,
through Kalaty's new hand-knotted Forte collection.
Kalaty marked its 45th anniversary rolling out a range of high-end hand-crafted rugs, including three new heirloom-quality hand-knotted collections. Among the best-received introductions at Las Vegas Market was Forte, a chic modern-meets-traditional wool and Silkette collection, which features abstract motifs layered over classic patterns. In addition, the company's line extension to its popular hand-knotted Elara collection added a fresh abstract piece rendered in earthy colorations. Elara is hand knotted in a Tibetan weave using premium wool and Silkette with a loop-and-pile weave. These rugs are hand carved for a three-dimensional look.
Finally, another newcomer that caught buyers' attention was the high-quality power-loomed Ventura collection. These contemporary-styled rugs, crafted of 100 percent premium wool yarns, are bound by hand then hand carved for high-low texture. Each carpet receives a finishing wash that imparts a lustrous appearance.
Kalaty's popular Elara collection, hand-knotted of wool and Silkette, sees a line extension for winter shoppers.
LOLOI
Loloi’s Heritage collection was unveiled at a special 20th anniversary celebration at winter market.
Loloi celebrated 20 years in the rug business at Las Vegas, hosting a special event at which Amir Loloi unveiled a new area rug collection, Heritage, introduced to mark that special occasion (read full story). The power-loomed lineup includes 15 designs that offer a vintage aesthetic and variable-pile texture created by using a new craft process, which Loloi said took more than two years to develop. Motifs in Heritage are woven with individual threads to create intricate designs, including white cotton threads that mimic a vintage rug's wear patterns. Heritage is manufactured in Egypt of a polypropylene, wool and cotton for thicker, variable texture and soft blended pile.
NATCO HOME
Katelyn Stern, Rooms to Go director of merchandising and textiles, browses Natco's latest ultra-plush textured designs
with Jim Thompson. Shown, Angora Fur's textured bubble pattern
Natco reports that appointments are up over winter 2023 with several customers coming into the showroom before market's official kickoff. "Buyers are saying business is good," said Jim Thompson, VP of sales.
Natco continues to expand its best-selling collections adding new designs to its long-running Stonington, including Mod Angles. These rugs offer a thick and luxurious super-soft high pile made of polyester. The domestically made Stonington collection features a tonal heat shrink polyester in the field for added depth and texture. Another successful lineup, Angora Fur, continues to add fresh designs and colors. "It is "doing exceptionally well at all of our customers," Thompson said.
Natco contiues to expand its best-selling collections, including the domestically made Stonington. Shown, Mod Angles
NOURISON HOME
Weavers Art's Michael, left, and son Bahador Pourvakil shop Nourison's trend-forward handcrafted area rugs. Shown, CGS35
Nourison reported good traffic at its spacious World Market Center showroom with high-end and custom rugs being top choices with clients shopping winter market. Among several best-sellers were the company's just-released Whispers collection of high-quality hand-knotted rugs, which is part of its Reserve lineup and the company's highest-quality brand. Whispers is crafted 100 percent wool offering classic Persian motifs in contemporary neutrals, with subtly raised accents for textural appeal. Vegas buyers were the first to see another luxurious Reserve debut called Plush Cloud, a hand-tufted series of neutral solids crafted from a sumptuous blend of cashmere and the highest quality New Zealand wool for a plush, dense texture.
The piece di resistance for buyers seeking statement pieces was the latest Prismatic addition, PRS38, which offers a trending flowing pattern in a blend of warm neutrals with darker shading.
Nourison expands its Reserve collection, which includes the company's highest calibre hand-knotted rugs, with Whispers.
ORIENTAL WEAVERS
Oriental Weavers dramatically expanded its successful Lucca collection of classic floral motifs rendered in fashion-
forward palettes. Shown, 2863e
OW reports good appointments with clients booking visits beginning on the Thursday prior to the official start of market. It comes as little surprise that Oriental Weavers' line extensions to its popular Lucca collection of classic floral patterns were immediate hits. The newest designs inject trend-forward colorations, including vibrant pinks and cornflower blues balanced by neutral tones and more traditional colors of red, gold and green. These rugs are cross woven of wool and nylon.
OW's debuting Capella collection, which offers a wide range of styles from traditional Persian to abstract to modern geometrics, was a hit for for its high-density, low-profile construction, power-loomed of incredibly soft, space-dyed polyester and muti-level shrink polyester. Another market favorite hails from the new Kipton collection of hand-tufted wool designs. Woven of space-dyed wool and featuring a dense, textural cut and loop pile, this lineup includes organic layered styles, which are trending with retailers.
Oriental Weavers' new Kipton lineup, hand-tufted of wool, was top choice for retailers seeking step-up products.
Shown, KIP-08
ORIAN
Sergenian's Kathryn Sergenian and Niko Papadopoulos, center right, take a break shopping Orian's newest rugs
with company CEO Scott Dahl, far right, and Paul Rutherford and Jacob Richards, from left.
Orian introduced six domestic collections many featuring new constructions for the company, and customers' response was "excited," said Jess Sheehan, creative director. She said retail buyers who reviewed the new Reyna and Rhett collections gave both a big thumbs up. "The market has really evolved in the past few years, so as we bring Orian into this new chapter -- we're showcasing a fresher, wider range of products to cater to our current and future customers’ needs. The positive feedback from the industry has been very encouraging as we look ahead."
Reyna, which offers Orian's highest pile height with an added drop-stitch texture, includes a range of geometric global motifs in today's trending colors. Reyna and companion collection Rhett are both super-soft, pet-friendly, easy-care and durable. A top choice with winter shoppers was RHE01 in navy which is a linear dot design in deep blue ground.
Orian also introduced its lowest-pile-height collection at winter market with the rollout of Logan, ideal for e-commerce and very competitively priced.
Among the top introductions from Orian is its new highest-pile easy-care Reyna collection. Shown, RA01-GI
SAFAVIEH
A hand-knotted Art Nouveau design, from the new Picasso collection, drew market shoppers into Safavieh’s Building A showroom.
At Safavieh, cross category decorating options were merchandised throughout its World Market Center space, with area rugs in fashion-forward palettes and designs prominently featured. The company launched fresh new looks in its Martha Stewart licensed program, as well as the Ralph Lauren Home line, both high on buyers’ shopping lists. Also new was a major display of scatter rugs and coordinating textiles and pillows, which will be expanded for the upcoming New York Home Fashions Market.
Designers flocked to high-end collections, most notably to classic motifs in on-point colors. Among the top choices were styles from the new hand-knotted Picasso collection, which offers textured yet understated floral motifs in soft palettes.
Safavieh showcased updated classics in pale colors and shimmering yarns. Shown, SMP 501
SOUTHWEST LOOMS
Southwest Looms featured its boutique collections at its new permanent showroom. In the foreground, the red Afghan
collection’s Heriz AP-15, and hanging PC-04A from Arts & Crafts.
Southwest Looms showcased its best-selling boutique collections at Las Vegas winter market in its new permanent showroom in the C Building, C460. While the company's Pendleton collaboration, a lineup of designs based on classic Pendleton Woolen Mills patterns, remains a major hit with buyers, its Santa Fe collection of updated mountain lodge looks is high on market-goers’ shopping lists. Santa Fe rugs are constructed using a 100-knot Tibetan weave and high-quality New Zealand wool. Two other eye-catching pieces at market were Heriz AP-15 from the company’s Afghan collection, and Stephanotis Flower (PC-04A), a grand botanical motif from the popular Arts & Crafts series.
Southwest Loom's Santa Fe collection reworks classic lodge-inspired looks for modern tastes.
TRANS-OCEAN
Igor Yakovenko, left, and Marco Figueroa, of Airbase Carpet & Tile based in New Castle, Delaware, flank designer Liora Manne.
Shown. Tivoli Watercolor in pond
Trans-ocean reports steady traffic for the winter edition of Las Vegas Market, noting that line extensions to its most popular -- and largest -- collection, Marina, proved a top choice with rug shoppers. Two best-selling Marina additions include Sienna in gold and School of Fish, both made of polypropylene and polyester and power-loomed in Egypt. The company debuted the Monaco collection of indoor-outdoor designs power-loomed of polypropylene in neutral colors with natural grass-inspired textures.
In the indoor category, the hand-tufted wool Tivoli collection added several fresh contemporary floral motifs, including the abstract Watercolor and over-scale floral Hallo Holland.
Trans-Ocean's largest, and most popular collection, Marina, continues to add fresh styles. Shown, Sienna in gold
UNIQUE LOOM
The Unique Loom team gathers for a photo op with license partner Jill Zarin front row center.
The black and white trend continues at Unique Loom with the debuting power-loomed Milano collection of contemporary black and white designs woven of polyester pile with cotton back. The company also expanded its custom program to include English Manor by celebrity Jill Zarin, and is growing custom to meet customer demand. “Custom is incredible,” said account manager, Stephanie Adams. “It’s doing great, because it makes everything so easy for designers. We’re going into higher-end custom, even with New Zealand wool, because designers want it – even furniture stores want it.”
Milano debuts with eight graphic B&W designs power-loomed of polyester at Las Vegas Market.
-- Don't miss Part 1 of Las Vegas Rug Stories