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The Rug Show 2024

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Colors: Orange Color

By standard accounts felt made from wool is considered to be the oldest known textile. Multiple cultures spanning the nomadic Mongol and Turkic peoples as well as those of Sumer lay claim to legends of the origin of felt. Catholic tradition even tells the tale of Saint Clement and Saint Christopher who—while fleeing persecution— stuffed raw wool into their sandals to prevent blisters only to discover at the end of their journey the sweat and constant beating of their paces had felted the wool.

Carpets have been layered over wall-to-wall sisal, upon one another in aristocratic garden parties, and sprawled in Bedouin tents. They’ve been used as the top—and most beautiful—layer covering beds, laid on tabletops at a time when their rarity all but forbade use on the floor, and have now—though the look is far from de rigueur—been featured layered in countless films, television shows, and noted interiors.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the rug industry began to see an increased number of traditional broadloom showrooms expanding into the area rug market, thus adding another layer of competition to the specialty rug showroom that continues to this day. This was a logical next step—the natural progression if you will—as the broadloom industry sought to capture more sales.

It may be cliche to emphasize the de rigueur palette of the season for a trends section, but what are trends if not simply a collection of similar things. As varied as the rug and carpet world may be—different qualities, materials, constructions, and so forth—color serves to unify, bridging the chasms.

Using an antique carpet in an interior setting should not be an intimidating affair. Sure, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is filled with rare and early examples that aren’t suitable for day-to-­­­day use, but there are enough available antique and vintage rugs on the market to cover the globe end to end.

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