Safavieh will expand on the hot ikat theme with more designs at this month’s New York shows—Metro Market Week and the New York Home Fashions Market Week.
Exhibiting in its 153 Madison Avenue location, Safavieh will unveil the Bergama collection, a group of 10 ikat rug designs. This group follows the recent addition of Indian Sojourn, a soumak collection of ikats for the company’s David Easton for Safavieh Couture, which will also be shown.
Retailers that come to the New York Home Fashions Market “tell us they are looking for better quality and fashion from Safavieh,” said Arash Yaraghi, principal, and the new Bergama ikats fill that need. “Our strategy is to offer these stores the same directional styling as our Couture lines, but at the great values their customers expect. The tribal look has saturated clothing, leather goods, upholstery and rugs at the upper end, and our job is to help the big box stores offer the look to their customers at prices they can afford.” The home fashions category is growing for Safavieh, and it will show retailers new concepts in rugs, accent pillows and other home textile categories, he added.
Some of the patterns in the new Bergama ikat collection have borders that create a patchwork effect because the patterns and colors are different from the ground of the rug. But they relate to the overall patterns of the other rugs and can be coordinated in adjoining rooms of the home. The collection is handtufted of vegetable-dyed New Zealand wool in the Bergama area of Turkey to recreate the symmetrical knots of handknotted rugs in Safavieh’s designer collections. A 5-by-8 rug will retail for $600.
In addition, Safavieh will show the Ralph Lauren and Lauren Ralph Lauren rug collections for the first time at a New York market. More than 20 new designs will also be shown in Martha Stewart Rugs, all handtufted.
For Metro Market Week, the focus is on the specialty brick-and-mortar stores, Yaraghi said. “It’s a great opportunity to spend time with these traditional stores.” The company will serve breakfast and lunch daily during Metro Market Week.