We are giving some prestige back to Persian carpets,” says Hossein Rezvani. “We are making them a must-have item again.”
He’s not exaggerating. The 34-year-old German-Iranian launched his eponymous carpet brand in 2009 and has already received his first Red Dot award, the prestigious, internationally recognised seal of quality for product design.
His creations, which combine the quality of traditional Persian carpets with striking, contemporary designs, are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stagnant market.
“There’s no innovation; that’s the problem with the Persian carpet business,” he continues. “The Persian mentality is, ‘Why should I change something that’s been working for 200 years.’ In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Persian carpets were unbelievably popular, but there comes a time when you have to move on. And if you don’t do that at the right time, the opportunity is lost and you can’t catch up again for a long time.
“If you look at Nepal or India, they’ve adapted and they’ve changed. They look at what the trends are and what the popular colours are. With Persian carpets, they say, ‘This is how we do it so this is how you’ll buy them.'”
