Safavieh will launch Safavieh Couture, a new brand-name and operating division devoted to the company’s growing stable of licensed designer programs, in January at the Atlanta International Area Rug Market.
The company’s newest design partners are Jamie Drake, David Easton and Suzanne Kasler.
“Safavieh Couture will be the umbrella brand for all of Safavieh’s licensed rug collections by interior designers,” said Arash Yaraghi, principal of Safavieh, adding that the designers were chosen for their unique tastes.
The company said its latest initiative is intended to move the company into a position of leadership in the category of modern and transitional rugs, in response to what Yaraghi called an international and nation trend toward “up-scaling.”
“Consumers today have more sophisticated taste levels than ever before, largely because of HGTV, shelter magazines and the design blogs on the Internet,” Yaraghi explained. “These consumers want the style of designer rugs they see in the media, which invariably are clean, transitional and geared to contemporary lifestyles.”
He went on to say that Safavieh’s new design partners set the trends these consumers admire.
Each designer will launch 10 to 12 rugs in Safavieh Couture. The rugs will be hand-knotted in one of the company’s weaving centers around the world, using 100 percent wool or combinations of wool and silk. The retail price for a 6-by-9 rug will start at $1,500.
“Our designers often create custom rugs for their own clients’ homes, but because Safavieh’s rugs are programmed, they provide the designers’ signature looks at affordable prices,” Yaraghi added.
The designers will kick off their collections with a round-table seminar for retailers sponsored by AmericasMart University at the Safavieh showroom from 4 to 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 8, to be followed by a cocktail reception.
This will be followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception marking the grand opening of its new AmericasMart showroom. — Jennifer Alexis