By Louis Iannaco
What’s popular today in the high-end broadloom marketplace? The answers vary, but according to industry executives, casual elegance, soft yarns and patterned products are big hits with the consumer—all are currently categorized as hot.

“Presently, the high-end category of carpet is selling quite well,” said Emily Morrow, director of color, style and design for Shaw Industries. “The looks that my research indicates are selling best are those that are tailored woven or tufted goods with either fibers that have a silky or wool visual. Color options and scale of pattern are also key, keeping in mind that most often these will be bound for a room-sized rug.”

Patterns rule

Where wall-to-wall carpets are needed, there may be less contrast between the field and pattern, if any, she noted. “Patterns and colors are taking their cue from fashion but in a conservative interpretation, not straight from the runway. For instance, global inspiration is very apparent in fashion, but in carpet it will appear in forms of tea-stained yarns, or neutral gray or chocolate, in a medium-scale helix pattern or in a dense, soft, luscious velvet saxony.”

According to Vickie Gilstrap, vice president of Karastan’s product development, when it comes to high-end offerings, the softer the better. “In keeping with the desire for casual elegance, carpet trends lean toward soft yarns in frieze textures. Berber-fleck carpets are also strong, along with patterns, which are selling especially well in tonal designs.”

She also explained natural fibers, like wool, are increasing in popularity as people become more environmentally savvy. “Aside from its green attributes, our wool carpets have health, safety, durability, comfort and styling advantages that are catching peoples’ interests. Our SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer is also attracting a great deal of attention for its eco-friendly qualities and performance benefits.”

Jonathan Cohen, executive vice president of Stanton Carpet, agreed with Morrow and Gilstrap about the popularity of patterns, saying that at the higher end of the market, “we see an increasing influx of patterned product, particularly in more modern-type styling. As always, in more decorative carpets, color and style are at the heart of a consumer’s decision but modern and new traditional are selling. We’re always stressing that our products must be fully supported by outstanding service, stock and customer service— open until 8 p.m. EST.”

He noted the company also offers in-house rug fabrication on all products, and now has its CSI (Customer Service Interface) program that allows customers to sign up and access their account online 24/7. “She can check stock, place orders, view pricing, account history and more.”

Tony Prespitino, vice president of sales and marketing for Gulistan Carpet, believes in the high end; sophisticated colorations and styling, soft fibers and brand continue to be very important. “We focus on branded styles using Stainmaster and Solutia 6,6 nylon. Especially in the high-end segment, we all have a tendency to underestimate the consumer and her ability and willingness to trade herself up, if given the opportunity.

“As a matter of fact,” he noted, “if a store does not have a sufficient offering in this category, a consumer may look but will not purchase from that store.” He explained consumers want choices and to work with knowledgeable sales personnel that will not only help and guide them through the process, but reinforce their decisions.

What they offer

At Karastan, Gilstrap said the mill offers a wide variety of carpets that meet today’s trends. Some of the most popular examples include: Coastal Elegance—a textured frieze made from SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer. It is offered in solid and berber-fleck colors; Consuelo—a tonal patterned tip-shear woven of New Zealand wool in a soft palette of colors, and Tristan, a woven loop, New Zealand wool carpet patterned in subtle striations of tonal hues.

Morrow noted, one of Shaw’s newest introductions, Urban View in Cobblestone, “has just been featured in a national ad photo paired with our new wood, Grand Canyon. It is one of the highlights from the third Visions collection called Savvy Spaces. The collection is made of Anso nylon, which contains recycled content and is recyclable. This style ties all the fashionable ingredients together beautifully in a double helix pattern in tonally tea-stained yarns, and bound in canvas for a room-sized rug.

“Other truly luxurious new launches are Couture’s latest additions, Touch of Luxury and Exquisite Taste, each made with lightest to deepest colorations derived from our Shaw 2009 Color Forecast,” she added.

As it always seems to do, the latest state-of-the-art technology plays a major role in what mills can offer in high-end products. “New innovations in today’s nylon fibers and in tufting machinery enable our product development teams the opportunity to achieve all the characteristics of the high-end styles that one sees oftentimes in wool or Wiltons and Axminsters,” said Morrow, “all tufted in Shaw’s recyclable Anso nylon.

“The fiber technology allows our depths of color to be the richest, and when combinations of dull cabled yarns are juxtaposed with silky thin yarns, you’ve got the ultimate in luxury,” she added, “one that’s a visually appealing and an environmentally responsible fashion statement for your floor.”

According to Prespitino, whether remodeling or purchasing a new home, in all likelihood, the consumer has selected a hard surface to go into her house first—whether it be hardwood, marble or ceramic. Hence, she is already conditioned to spend at least $10 per foot. So, when it comes to purchasing carpet, whether it’s for her family room, entertainment room, bedroom, hallways, etc., it can seem like a bargain.

“Our pattern LCLs and their related products continue to show an upward trend in volume,” he explained, “like our Bella Vista Collection, which includes nine styles in 60 common colorations and Ultimate Luxury, featuring five styles with 36 colorations plus a custom color program available for a minimum of 50 square yards.”

As far as textures and friezes go, Prespitino added, “the heavier the better—like our Solitaire, which is really a tweener-construction between a texture and frieze, and Sumptuous Beauty, which is an 80-ounce Tactesse texture, for example.”

At Stanton, Cohen said the mill has focused on more modern and transitional styling as seen in its introductions the past few years. “We offer this as well as a balance of new traditional and normal traditional across multiple categories of carpet, including woven cut-pile patterns in wool, and synthetic with coordinating runners, flat-woven indoor/outdoor, tufted wools and wire Wilton woven wool patterns that are stunning.”

And Stanton must be doing something right. The mill has won the Wools of New Zealand Fashion Dynamics contest for best new woven carpet three of the last four years.