Fashion Underfoot

By Deena C. Bouknight
Special Sections Writer

The decorating category of area rugs receives little attention until a homeowner actually needs one. It is then that he or she might look for just the right color or style to coordinate with a room’s decor.

But an entire fashion- and trend- oriented world that consumers know little about surrounds the area-rug industry. Home decorators and interior designers only reap the benefits of savvy and attentive area rug experts who can acutely pinpoint home fashion’s direction each season.

It begins by observing apparel fashions. What is happening with our clothing trends in terms of hue combinations, materials and style trickles down to affect home furnishings. For example, silver sage, chocolate and apple green first affected what we wear, yet these colors are now on our walls, dressing our windows and under foot as area rugs.

Some area-rug companies take the fashion focus a step farther and partner with recognizable apparel fashion names to create new styles and to promote their rugs. Dalyn Rug Co. of Dalton, Ga., has an agreement with Jaclyn Smith, who has had a successful apparel line at Kmart for many years.

The Jaclyn Smith Home line of area rugs for Dalyn are described as having the “grace, style and elegance” of the actress and model, according to David Adams, executive vice president of Dalyn. Smith herself said she felt that the rugs for the line are “unparalleled in their beauty and offer the consumer tremendous value as well as quality.”

These rugs are made by Dalyn with a special “soft-touch” construction. The color palette spans from the now popular chocolate, gold and spa green to jewel tones of burgundy and olive green.

“We usually look at color themes first,” said Mike Shabtai, an owner of The Rug Market, based in California. At the fall International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, Shabtai pointed out: “We’re selling a lot of browns and greens.”

New styles for The Rug Market are Bergamo, an ultra thick shag, and Coral, a longer, thinner, iridescent shag.

“It’s definitely a fashion industry, starting with the colors of the rug,” said David L. McCarty of Nourison in Saddle Brook, N.J. “Our main customer is the shopper who walks into the store and has a piece of fabric in her hand, and she wants a rug that will go with that fabric.”

Since fabric trends start in the apparel industry, Nourison’s Calvin Klein collection is right on target with a focus on nature, according to Julie Rosenblum, the brand manager at Nourison. “It is ‘green-friendly,’ which is the new buzz term. It is about leaves and flowers. The palette is more muted. It is also about texture. It is called Woven Textures, and has been very well-received. We have also brought down the price points on this. The styling is understated modern.”

“We see a larger part of the traditional marketplace shifting to contemporary and modern because new buyers typically don’t want their grandmother’s rug,” said McCarty. “Even if our customers tell us they want a traditional rug, they want it in more modern colors.”

Betting on apparel fashion and contemporary preferences to attract customers, upper-end contemporary home-furnishings maker Excelsior Designs of New York created a line of flashy rugs for its Nicole Miller Collection. Within the collection are the design motifs found in Nicole Miller’s furniture and splashes of color derived from her palette of 200-plus upholstery fabrics. These rugs have loud splashes of color, bold geometrics and subtle swirls of neutral hues.

“It’s not only important how these rugs look, but their texture … the way they feel,” said Shabtai.

The new rugs Excelsior showed in High Point were handcrafted of New Zealand wools and Asian silks.

In fact, construction has much to do with the fashion aspect of area rugs. When the trend in fabrics is thick and lush — velvet and mohair, for example — area rugs are more plush and luxurious using soft wools and carved or woven high/low effects. When the attention is more on pattern and color, styles such as flat-woven kilims are the rage.

In High Point, Nourison just introduced the Dakota line of kilims, which are updated in current colors of chocolate, aqua, reds and yellow. “It’s a whole color play,” said Rosenblum. “This is all about texture as well. Texture is so big right now in area rugs.”

Shaw Living indicated in High Point that shag is trendier than ever. The company’s new Cloud Nine group offers a solid-color, luxuriant-tufted nylon in colors they call Sweet Cream, Maple Sugar, Tea Leaf, Earth and Red Wine.

“We believe the consumers are shopping for area rugs that are trendy, comfortable and economical,” said Kimberly Barta, brand manager for Shaw Living. “This collection hits all those categories. It’s incredibly easy to decorate with, no matter what your decor.