COVER Connect Las Vegas 2026: Exhibitor highlights and reviews

Exhibitors reported strong engagement and positive results as COVER Connect Las Vegas returned to tise for its fourth edition

COVER Magazine stall featuring our recent print issue

COVER Connect Las Vegas 2026 has reached its conclusion. After running from 27-29 January as a part of The International Surface Event (tise), it has been yet another successful year. Bringing together an international mix of brands, designers and buyers, the pavilion once again offered a considered counterpoint to the wider rug and textile market.

Held within the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, this year’s event brought together a carefully curated selection of international exhibitors that offered an exceptional overview of traditional, transitional and contemporary rug design.

For 2026, we hosted:

Olker Rugs, Samad Rugs, Tamarian, Design Materials Inc., French Accents,Eliko Rug Gallery, Momeni,Pampas Leather, Parviz Oriental Rugs, Turquoise Mountain and Wool & Silk.

Although a severe winter storm in the U.S. earlier in the week raised concerns about travel and attendance, the industry showed resilience and turnout remained strong, with many buyers and designers managing to arrive and engage with the brands over the three-day show.

To give you the insight into COVER Connect Las Vegas 2026, some of our exhibitors have kindly shared their thoughts.

Olker

“We’ve got a great response. As always, the COVER Connect Las Vegas edition felt very intentionally curated. The scale allowed for meaningful conversations with the right audience of designers, retail buyers and creatives who genuinely understand the craftsmanship and design integrity. So, it’s been a really great show.”

“It was special to reconnect with established clients, many of whom we were excited to show our newest offerings and development. The show provided an ideal setting to strengthen those relationships and lay the groundwork for continued growth into 2026. In addition, it also facilitated meaningful new connections with international buyers, which allowed us to expand our global dialogue and reinforced the relevance of our collections across different markets. We saw some clients come in from China—an emerging market—and we saw some clients from Mexico, so it was surprising to see that there is an appetite for high-end rugs among markets and buyers who are mainly here for other factors. So what we saw was that they came to the show not only for their planned purchases, they also came here for the flooring industry at large.”

“It’s a pleasure to be part of the COVER Connect show—an environment for high rug brands. Other shows cannot capture the essence of this really special show and we look forward to the 2026 New York edition.”

Exhibitors conversing at the Wool & Silk booth

Samad

“We came with a very open mind. The weather was a concern and we actually got here a day earlier to make sure we were here to set up, but we had a steady stream of customers on every single day actually, and we’ve written some very good business. All our customers have been from the west of Texas—we wanted to support West Coast retailers and this turnout validates having an annual show here.”

“The new samples coming out of India were very well received, which gives us confidence for the whole year ahead. It’s kind of a good thing that we can gauge when something is well received by many customers—that gives us the confidence to order and have them available in stock as programmes. Our Taimany range, which is our collaboration with ABC Italia in Italy, has been a sell-out—not only have they sold from here, but we’ve even sold large pieces that are in our warehouse by showing them on the iPad, and so that’s hugely successful. This makes me really happy, because that relationship is getting more and more solid and I think it’s really going to do well. We are making larger pieces, which is what America wants. All in all, Samad is very happy. We really feel we’re very much part of this group of elite rug wholesalers and we again thank COVER for everything that you do.”

Tamarian

“The show has been very good. We saw a lot of the clients that we expected to and picked up a few new people too, which is always the best unexpected result. We are really happy with the reaction to the rugs and are just getting to know Vegas more and what to expect from the show. It’s been a really good follow-up to what we do in September at COVER Connect New York, and it also seems to touch people that we either don’t see in New York or gives us an opportunity to follow up with product. So, the timing is great, and the size of the show. We have great neighbours and there’s a great energy.”

“We brought a maximal look with our Peacock rug, which is almost a peacock in itself—its plumage stopped people in their tracks! It was really cool to have a piece that really elicited a reaction out of people and then drew them in. Colour and texture are the things that people respond to the most. Of course, the tigers always get an audience as well.”

Couristan

Outside of the CCLV pavilion, Couristan was one of several brands situated elsewhere at tise.

“I think the first day of the show was quite busy, which I was surprised about. It’s usually always busy the first day, but I was nervous because of the snowstorm with the East Coasters, but I think a good amount of people have made it out, which is great. People knew ahead of time, so they came earlier. We had a great party on Tuesday. Lots of people came to celebrate Couristan’s hundredth anniversary. We got to bring out our entire hospitality team as well, so a good chunk of our team got to be there, which was really special, and being here with my Dad, of course, is always special as well. Then winning Best Carpet in Show for Dublin made our 100th anniversary all the more special. It’s handloom and it’s from India.”

“I would say we’ve gotten a good amount of new customers and a few developers and designers. At Las Vegas Market there was a good amount of new customers, which is great because the traffic there is not what it is here, so that was really a great surprise.”

“In terms of colour, there’s been a lot less grey-blue. Colour has become very important to us and I think people are starting to take more risks in their interiors. This show, I’ve noticed a lot of browns and greens, of course, but I’d say we have a good mix of some bold colours and then some pastels too.”

As the fourth edition of COVER Connect Las Vegas concludes, our exhibitors’ responses reinforce the strength of the show’s focused, design-led format within the broader trade landscape.

With consistent engagement, high-quality conversations and strong commercial outcomes reported throughout the pavilion, the Las Vegas edition continues to play a vital role within the wider COVER Connect calendar.

Now we begin to look forward to COVER Connect New York 2026, where we anticipate the continuation of this momentum on 26–28 September at the Metropolitan Pavilion and The Altman Building