Archive for June 2009

New Traditional Ranges From Oriental Weavers

Rug manufacturer Oriental Weavers has recently added three brand new traditional wool collections to their outstanding portfolio – ‘Super Kashan’, ‘Palace’ and ‘Kazak’. Modern Rugs has been quick to make these rugs available to our customers with big savings on high street prices.

Oriental Weavers are the biggest machine made rug manufacturer in the world as well as being a very well recognised and trusted brand in the rug industry. First established in 1980 and based in Egypt Oriental Weavers has always had a strong commitment to quality and innovation.

Modern Rugs has been stocking Oriental Weavers collections for a number of years as they are a very popular with customers. We are always keen to add their new collections to our website as soon as they are launched. As always you will find detailed photography and videos on each rug making it easier for you to see their quality and beauty.

The first of these new ranges is called ‘Palace’, a premium quality wool rug which comes in five designs. Only the finest New Zealand wool is used to produce these rugs meaning they have a very deep and very soft pile. They also have a high durability factor meaning they will last and keep looking good for a great many years. Each rug features a beautiful array of colours without being too vibrant and overpowering, achieving a more traditional antique look. Although the rugs are machine woven each one is finished by hand to ensure the quality and appearance is of the highest standard.

Next is ‘Kazak’, a mid priced wool collection starting from £69. The traditional Kazak style originated from Azerbaijan, made by Azeri tribes and date back to the 13th century. They have become a very distinctive and well known style of traditional rug. The Oriental Weavers Kazak rugs have the same ethnic tribal look inspired by the original Kazak rugs and come in two designs which are each available in three colours.

The final and perhaps most exciting of the new ranges is ‘Super Keshan’. The ‘Super Kashan’ rugs are the next evolution of the ‘Royal Keshan’ collection; one of the most well known traditional ranges in the UK. The ‘Royal Keshan’ traditional rugs were previously sold by ourselves as well as many high street department stores such as John Lewis and were popular due to their very individual and unique style. Sadly the ‘Royal Keshan’ range was discontinued when the manufacturer (Handmade Carpets Ltd) went into administration last year. However Oriental Weavers has managed to secure the licence to produce these designs at their own factory in Egypt. Many of the same popular ‘Royal Keshan’ designs now live on in the ‘Super Keshan’ range. However, Oriental Weavers were keen to produce these rugs to a higher standard so the 100% wool pile is now even thicker and denser than ‘Royal Keshan’ were. As usual there is a big selection of sizes ranging from small to extra large and a hallway runner.

These new ranges sit alongside current best sellers from Oriental Weavers including ‘Gabbeh’, ‘Majestic’ and ‘Opulence’. We are confident that they will be well received by customers, making a fine addition to our traditional collections.

'GoodWeave' to Replace 'RugMark'

We posted an article on 25th April named ‘The Rug Industry and Child Labour’ which discussed how the RugMark organisation was helping to put a stop to illegal child labour. This month RugMark has announced that it will be launching a new brand which will replace the existing RugMark label.

The new brand has been named “GoodWeave” and will have the same core values as the current RugMark label. This includes being dedicated to deterring illegal child labour, whilst providing education and welfare to children that have been rescued from working in the rug industry, along with their families and community.

The new GoodWeave brand is not just for show, it also comes with a new plan of action which aims to take the mission of RugMark a step further. These new objectives will be more scrupulous, open and detailed. There will also be more input from a variety of stakeholders.

Currently GoodWeave is in its early stages, but as soon as more information is made available on this initiative we will post it here on our rug blog. We certainly hope that it will help to further reduce illegal child labour and ensure good working conditions and a fair wage for all workers.