COVER News: The Latest in Design and Industry

Registration open for COVER Connect New York 2026

COVER Connect is our leading trade fair for high-end rugs and textiles. Returning to Manhattan for its New York showcase from 26–28 September 2026, the event will bring together leading brands, designers, retailers, architects and industry professionals from around the world for three days of creativity, innovation and networking in the heart of the city.

This year’s edition welcomes four new exhibitors: Art de Vivre, Parviz Oriental Rugs, Nourison, and Arsin Rug Gallery further strengthening the fair’s international line-up.

Known for its carefully curated selection and vibrant atmosphere, COVER Connect New York offers a unique opportunity to discover new collections, explore emerging trends and connect directly with key voices shaping the industry. From contemporary design and exceptional craftsmanship to innovative materials and fresh business opportunities, the fair remains a key destination for the global rug market.

The front cover of COVER 83 features the striking cc-tapis x Fornasetti collection, which debuted in Milan this April.

The issue highlights the most exciting new rug designs presented at key international events including Milan Design Week, High Point Market, COVER Connect Pop Up High Point, ICFF, the International Carpet Festival Baku and Domotex Asia/CHINAFLOOR.

The Collections section showcases new work from Art de Vivre, Amini Carpets, Jaipur Rugs, Rosemary Hallgarten, Knots Rugs, and Dawn Bendick’s collaboration with FJ Hakimian, alongside latest releases from Fischbacher 1819 and Zollanvari, plus Li Edelkoort’s playful series with El Espartano.

Features explore US rug trends, agentic AI, Anni Albers’ legacy, Faig Ahmed’s Venice Biennale installation, and rug design for private aviation with Pavina Callies-Papé, as well as Arraiolos rug developments.

WOW!house at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour and the San Francisco Decorator Showcase are also featured, with Trends focusing on outdoor rugs and a review of Kit Kemp’s latest book completing the issue.

You can access the issue digitally on Exact Editions now.

COVER editor Lucy Upward selects eight standout rug and textile events from 3daysofdesign 2026 in Copenhagen, highlighting key installations and exhibitions across the city. The programme ranged from talks and activations to immersive presentations, with a strong focus on contemporary rug and textile design.

Highlights included PLAYROOM featuring Finarte, where playful new works by Ervin Latimer explored identity through colour and form, and Design / Dialogue by Ark Journal at Den Frie Udstilling, showcasing cc-tapis, Reuber Henning and Warp & Weft.

Other notable presentations included Jan Kath Design’s relaxed lounge installation at Pakhus 11, Vandra Rugs at MKDT Studio, and Layered x Massproductions’ kinetic “Industrial Choreography” installation. The selection also features Linie Design’s Palette Muse showroom and the Female Design Futures exhibition, spotlighting international designers including Milla Novo and Studio Sana Benzaitar.

BENI Rugs introduces OAK LANE, a new rug collection created in collaboration with interior designer and dealer Michael Bargo, launching this June. Inspired by Bargo’s summers in Amagansett, the capsule includes six rugs and BENI’s first woven floor pillow.

Drawn from Bargo’s personal “Beach Kit” of collected textiles and objects, the designs translate layered summer memories into stripes, plaids and graphic woven gestures. The collection spans BENI Rug’s Atlas and Zahara constructions, alongside two new weaves: Safaa, a looser flatweave, and Rif, a relaxed, vintage-inspired structure.

Colourways range from soft neutrals to warmer seasonal tones, edited with an instinctive focus on ease and joy. The woven floor pillow extends the language of the rugs into a sculptural domestic form.

Blending BENI Rug’s Moroccan craftsmanship with Bargo’s relaxed, autobiographical approach, OAK LANE captures the feeling of an Amagansett summer.

On view at the Guggenhiem Bilbao in galleries 204 and 208, this exhibition brings together new work by Igshaan Adams, exploring the relationship between weaving, movement and memory

Originating from performances in Athens in 2024, where South African and Greek dancers collaborated for the first time, the works translate bodily gesture into layered “dance prints” that record collective acts of release and connection. These traces are reworked into large-scale woven tapestries, suspended in space to allow viewers to move around and between them, as well as smaller sculptural forms that appear to drift like fragments of movement.

 Adams draws on his upbringing in Bonteheuwel, Cape Town, and the patterned geometries of domestic interiors, transforming humble materials into intricate abstractions that speak to race, religion, sexuality and memory.

Through collaboration with dancers and the act of weaving itself, the installation becomes a meditation on shared experience and embodied repair, where rhythm, touch and trace are held in constant dialogue.

The exhibition is running until 1 November 2026.