Mohawk Group Reinvigorates Woven Roots

Mohawk Group's Homegrown woven carpeting inset within a hard surface installation. Photography courtesy of Mohawk Group.

“The most important thing we think about when starting new ventures is, ‘Why does anyone need more carpet?’” says Jackie Dettmar, vice president of design and product development at Mohawk Group. It’s a thoughtful question for a flooring company to be asking themselves, as the product is ubiquitous across sectors. “The thing we’ve discovered about our clients is that the story of our products’ origins has a significant impact on them and it’s why they continue to seek us out,” Dettmar explains. That’s particularly true of the designs that come out of Mohawk’s original Karastan mill in North Carolina, where dedicated artisans and some of the company’s oldest machines create the award-winning woven carpets for which Mohawk is known.

Cream and brown palette samples of Mohawk Group's woven offerings. Photography courtesy of Mohawk Group.

Mohawk is poised to reinvigorate the contract flooring market with two new lines of high-end woven carpet that come from their North Carolina mill: Homegrown and Twining. Both products are manufactured using the brand’s Kara-Loc loom, a mid-century invention that once made shag carpet but now turns Mohawk Group's innovative Duracolor nylon fiber into broadloom carpeting and area rugs. Both options are ideal for more formal spaces, like executive suites or conference rooms, says Mark Oliver, vice president of workplace and retail.

"Woven carpeting brings texture into our lives,” says Oliver. “You can create a truly unique look with woven designs that you can’t make with other kinds of tufts.” Mohawk currently offers 22 different styles of woven luxury carpeting, with more options on the way.

Woven palettes in gray. Photography courtesy of Mohawk Group. 

Mohawk’s commitment to celebrating the maker movement also played a large part in the creation of Homegrown and Twining. The woven mill, which opened in 1937, is part of the rich history of the Southern textile industry.

“It’s very exciting to me that we can continue the legacy of that mill and revitalize the art that was made there long ago,” Dettmar says. “When you buy one of our woven products, you know that every inch has been looked at and labored over by people who care very much about what they’re making.”