ICFF area rug exhibitors showcased their weaving acumen and expressive capabilities in their newest designs.
NEW YORK -- A re-imagined ICFF celebrated its 35th edition rolling out its new vision as the best showcase of contemporary North American and global design. More than 400 brands from 35 countries participated in the 2024 fair including an illustrious lineup of domestic and international area rug brands. And area rug exhibitors did not disappoint.
In fact, ICFF rug participants showcased how far the craft of hand-knotted area rugs has come since 1989, the year the contemporary furniture fair first launched at New York's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. What's more it wasn't until 2006 when RugNews.com founder Lyssa Wyman penned the publication's first report on the show in an editorial titled High-End Riding High at International Contemporary Furniture Fair, noting that about 50 rug companies participated in that year's event.
These days the number of area rug exhibitors generally swings from 20, give or take a dozen, and for 2024 there were 13 area rug makers present in the general fair, excluding the Wanted Design show within ICFF. The pieces they featured were incredibly diverse and remarkable achievements not just in terms of craftsmanship, but also the design acumen on display.
Follow RugNews.com as we tour ICFF to bring you some of the rug industry's most spectacular weaving and story accomplishments circa 2024.
APADANA
Apadana's licensed program with New York designer Laura Gottwald earned the company an INSPIRE award. Shown, Fantasia
Connecticut rug manufacturer and showroom Apadana showcased its newest designs in bestselling styles at ICFF. Among the 2024 lineup were perennial favorites such as its Moroccan-inspired designs, understated textural Modern Safi collection pieces, Oushak-inspired looks in neutral colorations, plush and/or textural solids. In addition, the company expands its popular Groove collection to the outdoors introducing its first recycled plastic PET designs.
The company also earned recognition for its rug collaboration alongside New York designer Laura Gottwald. The series of six geometric designs, each in multiple colorways, took home the NKBA | KBIS INSPIRE Awards in the Carpet and Flooring category at ICFF 2024.
Apadana showcased its range of trending styles at its ICFF booth, including checkerboard looks, transitional geometrics
and florals, and graphic motifs.
ART INTERPRETED
Art Interpreted founder Reza Nejad Sattari, with wife, Jila, and son Hadi, showcase their limited edition art series. Shown,
The Poignant Ambiance of Memory’s Lattice by Albert Paley
Rochester, New York-based Art Interpreted, launched by Reza Nejad Sattari, founder of Oriental Rug Mart, introduced ICFF shoppers to his new artist area rug series of limited-edition hand-knotted rugs, each numbered and signed by the artist. On display were a series of bold abstract rugs, crafted in Nepal and created in collaboration with renowned artists including American painter Albert Paley, the French born painter Paul Reynard (1927-2005), photographer Brian Order, and glass sculptor Joss Simpson. A showstopper was Poignant Ambiance of Memory’s Lattice by Albert Paley, hand-knotted in a Tibetan weave of Himalayan wool and Chinese silk. This design was based on Paley's abstract monoprint of the same name and inolved the artist in each step of its creation.
Another showcased design was inspired by the abstract work of Reynard dubbed Mount Ararat, hand-knotted in Nepal of Himalayan wool. Sattari worked with his widow to obtain the rights to create this series.
Art Interpreted's Mount Ararat from artist Paul Reynard is hand-knotted in Nepal of lush Himalayan wool.
BY KAMY
Brazilian rug maker By Kamy took home a Best in ICFF award for its Tambaki rug by designer Serio Matos.
Brazilian carpet manufacturer By Kamy presented its latest carpet designs, both created in collaboration with renowned designers, in a shared booth hosted by the Design Brazil & Industry. The company featured a new collection, Tambaki, created alongside award-winning Brazilian designer Sergio Matos. Tambaki earned By Kami IFDA's Best in ICFF Show Selects Award in flooring. The Tambaki collection is crafted of nautical rope woven into a series of overlapping oval pieces.
The Brazilian company also showcased Corcovado designed by Andre Marcolino, with its flowing geometric pattern created with "fragments" of hemp, wool and viscose, in shades of beige, brown and off white. Corcovado, which means hunchback in Portoguese, is the name of the iconic mountain located in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
By Kamy showcased a new area rug designed with Brazilian designer Andre Marcolino named after the instantly recognizable
mountain Corcovado in the heart of Rio de Janeiro.
ILLULIAN
Cutting-edge Milanese luxury area rug atelier Illulian's latest design by Karim Rashid, Ki, stopped attendees in their tracks.
Milanese luxury handmade rug studio Illulian returns to ICFF for a second time, after a 2019 debut, to continue to showcase its luxurious contemporary area rugs to a wider audience. The company, which owns two Nepalese facilities, presented several of its newest collaborations with a storied list of iconic designers and architects. A show favorite hails from celebrated industrial designer Karim Rashid titled Ki and features a shaped 3-D like geometric motif of soft concentric curves. This limited edition area rug combines bright colors such as fluorescent yellow against a contrasting black ground.
Another frontrunner with ICFF attendees was Exotic Jungle designed by Simone Guidarelli, offering a textural jungle motif with palms, florals and animals in a rainbow of colors on an ivory ground. Guidarelli, a renowned fashion stylist, turned designer, launched his first home furnishings designs in range of whimsical wallpapers from Bologna-based brand Officinarkitettura.
Illulian debuts fashion-stylist-turned-designer Simone Guidarelli's first area rug, Exotic Jungle, which proved a favorite
of ICFF attendees.
Finally, Orbis, a multi-textural design comprised of three pieces in shades of blue, designed by MC+ Design Studio, a Los Angeles atelier founded in 2023 by Mattia Biagi and Cardenio Petrucci. stopped people in their tracks for its unexpected style, with pile heights ranging from shorn down to about a foot in length in some instances.
Orbis from Illulian was designed by Los Angeles's MC+ Design Studio, founded in 2023 by Mattia Biagi and Cardenio Petrucci.
JD STARON
An ICFF favorite at the JD Staron booth was Haiku, hanging right, showcased next to Botanica, left, and Mosaic, on floor.
JD Staron's ICFF motif for the 2024 edition was "Truly Bespoke" featuring a range of earthy colorations, including deep blues and greens, golds and browns, in a swath of unexpected shaped styles from modernist geometric (Shigeru) to organic stone looks (Mosaic) to abstract (Pendulum). JD Staron showcased a range of weaves from ultra textural hand-knotted pieces to dense and expressive hand-tufted designs to illustrate its range and the choices available to designers and architects.
Among the ICFF hits was JD Staron's Haiku, which shaped-edge design with an understated organic linear-inspired high-low design rendered in a range of organic brown tones. Pendulum, another showcased debut, features an abstracted high-low motif in a fan-like shape, rendered in myriad shades of brown tones.
JD Staron showcased its acumen in crafting textured uniquely shaped area rugs at ICFF. Shown, Pendulum
JENSIN OKUNISHI STUDIO
Fledgling eponymous custom rug studio Jensin Okunishi, founded by American born, designer featured the label's signature
soft geometric styles.
Founded by American born Jensin Okunishi the eponymous Japan-based custom rug studio made its ICFF debut and showcased its new Monuments collection. Featuring Okunishi's signature style of soft geometric contemporary designs, these rugs, like all in Jensin Okunishi’s collections, are handmade of 100 percent Himalayan wool in Nepal using the Tibetan knotting technique.
LIORA MANNE
Lora Appleton, founder of kinder MODERN and the Female Design Council, takes a closeup look at the Lamontage
Superbloom installation by Liora Manne which won the Best of Textile Award at ICFF 2024. Photo credit: Soraya Kohsar
Designer Liora Manne's Superbloom installation, created from her proprietary Lamontage process, took home the Best in Textiles award by the Female Design Council + ICFF. Superbloom was presented as part of ICFF's The Crossroads exhibit, a showcase of innovative designs curated by renowned architect David Rockwell.
Manne's studio created the wall installation from her recently introduced REvolution – REcycled & REimagined collection that is crafted of recycled polyester material. Lamontage is appropriate for multiple applications from wall coverings to area rugs to lampshades.
MARC PHILLIPS RUGS
Marc Phillips Rugs debuts its Clodagh program's first designs, including Water in moonlight colorway.
Marc Phillips Rugs, with showrooms in NYC and Los Angeles, presented two new licensed rug programs. One is a collaboration with renowned interior designer Clodagh, the other with Josh Greene, also a New York City based award-winning interior designer. The Clodagh collection is inspired by the five elements and offers abstract looks, with Water grabbing attention. This area rug is hand knotted of Himalayan nettle (allo), silk and wool. Arcadia, Josh Greene’s first rug collection, and is comprised of six hand-knotted designs inspired by the Usonian homes of Frank Lloyd Wright.
Mark Phillips introduces its new partnership with New York interior design studio Josh Greene Design. Shown, Kinney
MARK KREBS
Canadian designer Mark Krebs made is ICFF debut at the 2024 fair showcasing his range of sustainable, hand-crafted
area rugs.
Montreal-based designer Mark Krebs introduced his sustainable and ethically made area rugs, runners and floor pillows to ICFF market goers. Krebs launched his design studio in 2020 and today offers a range of handcrafted rugs made in Uttar Pradesh, India. The stand featured a selection of styles from the hand-woven Tile collection, which offers a "double back" loom construction for durability. The tile patterns of the pile rugs are hand carved of wool. The booth also featured Krebs' range of contemporary, colorful Kilim designs, flatwoven of 80 percent Indian wool (the weft) and 20 percent undyed cotton (the warp)..
Mark Krebs showcased his Tile collection of tonal hand-carved geometric pattern rugs.
NASIRI CARPETS
Nasiri Carpets featured a stunning handcrafted Mazandaran kilim with an ombre-like shaded gold motif.
New York flatweave expert Nasiri returns to ICFF featuring a design from its bestselling Mazandaran kilim collection. Taking center stage was design 9514 in gold and blue featuring a subtle ombre-like style. These kilims are hand woven using hand-spun wool colored with natural dyes. The company also displayed samples of its recently introduced Art Deco and new Scandinavian collections. Art Deco is hand-knotted of naturally dyed hand-spun wool. And Scandinavian collection rugs are flat woven of wool offering soft geometric motifs in soft colorations.
Nasiri introduced two new collections, Art Deco and Scandinavian, at the spring edition of ICFF.
RUG & KILIM
A antique floral Eastern European kilim, circa 1900, took center stage at the Rug & Kilim booth.
Rug & Kilim featured an oversized palace 10x21 antique Bessarabian kilim, circa 1900, in its ICFF stand. This Eastern European floral piece features cartouche-style blossoms, and garland leaf with a border of meandering vine scrolls and roses. The New York rug showroom also showcased its offering of vintage Moroccan Tuareg mats. These geometric motif rugs were crafted by artisans from the nomadic tribe of the same name, hand woven using reeds and leather.
SCANDECOR
A go-to custom rug and carpet source Scandecor continues to expand its range of understated patterned designs.
Shown, Domus with smaller sample of Positano.
Regular ICFF participant Scandecor returns offering its newest custom area rugs collections. Crafted in Finland by professional weavers, all of the company's power-loomed rugs are 100 percent carbon-neutral, produced entirely by wind and solar power. Known for its subtle neutral weaves, the company, run by mother and daughter team Marjatta and Alexandra Rautionmaa, are finding success with their subtle patterns and debuted a new collection, Domus, in its recently introduced assortment of long-hair felted New Zealand wool mixed with wood-fiber designs. The wood fiber adds durability and stain-repellant qualities to these carpets. The company also rolled out Tartan, a tonal motif taking its cues from this geometric style.
Scandecor debuted the eco-friendly Tartan, a plaid-inspired flatewenve produced in Scandinavia.
STUDIO VARIOUSLY
Anjali Purohit, founded Studio Variously in 2020, as a maker of throws and now offers sustainable and ethically produced
handmade area rugs.
Fledgling home accents and area rug atelier Studio Variously made its ICFF debut using the platform as a launchpad for its first hand-knotted rugs. Based in Bloomfield, Michigan, the atelier was launched by Anjali Purohit in 2020 with a focus on creating textiles that are natural, renewable and sustainable. Buyers gave a thumbs up to her hand-knotted geometric motif rugs and also appreciated the studio's flatwoven rugs crafted using 100 percent hand-carded wool, jute and imported wool and cotton. The blend of natural yarns and unique technique lend these understated rugs a natural and organic styling.
Studio Variously introduced its first hand-knotted rugs at ICFF offering geometric motifs crafted of wool.
TIBETANO
Tibetano's graphic Centaurus rug, hand-knotted in Nepal, proved a showstopper for its modernist geometric motif in
trending black and "white" palette.
Long-time ICFF participant Tibetano featured a range of styles at its ICFF booth from graphic looks to subtle tonal high-low styles. Among the show favorites was the bold graphic Centaurus rug, hand-knotted in Nepal and offering four different pile heights for plenty of texture. Another popular geometric Artel, which offers a understated geometric pattern in palette of warm and cool tones, including a deep green, steely blue tone and ivory.
Tibetano's minimalist geometric Artel rug resonated with ICFF market-goers for its understated design.
WARP & WEFT
Warp & Weft took home ICFF Editors Award for its new collection with Yabu Pushelber and founder Michael Madapati,
with the team, from left to right, Richard Kalley, Marta Szwedek, Kristy Krivitsky and Gwenno James.
ICFF stalwart area rug exhibitor Warp & Weft returns with its signature minimalist booth showcasing four designs from its new collection alongside multidisciplinary design studio Yabu Pushelberg. In fact, the New York rug atelier received the prestigious Editors Award in Carpet & Flooring for the Terra collection. These rugs are hand knotted using hand-dyed wool and silk. The patterns are inspired by aerial shots of earth and offer minimalist and simple look that bellies highly detailed patterns of curvilinear shapes and lines.
Warp & Weft grows its program with Yabu Pushelberg introducing the Terra collection at ICFF. Shown, Gale, on wall,
and Acre on floor.
WENDY MORRISON DESIGN
Wendy Morrison Design debuts the Sakura collection, which includes the hand-tufted shaped Saku rug.
Scottish designer Wendy Morrison returns to ICFF showcasing her newest luxurious rugs and textiles in her signature style. Her just released the Sakura collection, inspired by Japanese cherry blossoms, showcased a stunning hand-knotted wool and silk full-size rug. The soft-pink bordered design features the Japanese cherry blossom tree which reaches skyward on a soft ombre ground that transitions from black to ecru. The studio also displayed Saku, a whimsical blossom-shaped hand-tufted rug, and Mughal Painting, which is inspired by the Mughal Miniature painting style of the 16th century.
Mughal Painting, inspired by the Mughal Miniature painting style of the 16th century, makes its debut at ICFF at the WMD stand.