Inside Our New Kars Collection

By Lauren Small

In anticipation of the launch of our new Kars Collection, I recently sat down with Ben to talk about this unique enclave of weaving. What began as a conversation about Kars rugs quickly became a discussion about creativity, craftsmanship, and the enduring appeal of rugs that refuse to follow the rules.

Ben still remembers the first Kars rugs that caught his eye; he was 14 or 15 years old and just beginning to work around rugs.

“There were certain rugs that stood out to me almost immediately,” he recalls. “I thought Kars rugs were really cool because they had these big, bold, almost oversized motifs…I was always attracted to that rich camel color.”

That first impression never really left him. Spending years around rugs and cycling through different favorites, Kars remains high on the list. Not because they’re hard to come by, but because the more you learn about them, the more fascinating they become.

“Kars rugs are one of those overlooked categories,” he says. “They sit in this weird place that’s in between. (Most of the Kars we offer were woven throughout the mid-twentieth century and into the late twentieth century) A true antique rug dealer wouldn’t really be purveying these, but they’re also not new either. So, your run-of-the-mill import rug store isn’t going to be carrying these rugs.”

That’s also one of the reasons Landry & Arcari has become so passionate about collecting them — we've spent years building a distinctive group of vintage Kars rugs alongside newly woven interpretations inspired by this remarkable tradition.

Woven in Eastern Turkey, Kars rugs developed at the crossroads of Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Azeri, and Persian weaving traditions. That rich cultural exchange gave the weavers an unusually broad design vocabulary.

“You can very clearly see the influence of all different styles of rugs,” Ben explains. “You’ll get these big, bold geometric patterns, but you’ll also get stylized florals… and small-scale lattice designs. It’s just a really interesting mix.”

Most handmade rugs tend to fall into one of two traditions. Village rugs are celebrated for their bold geometric motifs, graphic compositions, and folky character. City rugs are known for refined floral patterns, elegant drawing, and technical precision. Kars somehow manages to do both.

“Village weaving is really rough and coarse… city weaving is fine and floral. Oftentimes we don’t see those things married together… But Kars is another example of that. I think that’s what appeals to decorators and rug nerds alike.”

That balance is one of the reasons these rugs feel so captivating yet timeless. They have enough structure to satisfy the collector’s eye, but enough spontaneity to feel completely at home in today’s decorative interiors.

One of the things that makes Kars rugs so compelling is that they rarely feel rigid or formulaic. Their design language is so captivating because even when the motifs are familiar, every rug has its own rhythm and personality.

Ben describes them as “stream of consciousness” weaving. Rather than following strict conventions, the weavers worked instinctively; borrowing familiar motifs, enlarging them, simplifying them, and interpreting them in ways that felt personal rather than prescribed. That creative freedom gives every Kars rug its own distinct character, which helps explain why they continue to captivate collectors and designers alike.

It’s also why they feel surprisingly modern.

“They take motifs and almost blow them up; that’s something we still do today in contemporary production.”

As our appreciation for Kars rugs grew, we kept running into the same challenge: The best examples were becoming increasingly difficult to find. Many vintage Kars rugs were woven in long runners, smaller formats, or in unusual proportions that don’t always suit the western homes of today. Larger room-sized examples are especially scarce.

The standard room sizes are really hard to find,” Ben says. “If a dealer shows me them, I’m buying all the room sizes because they’re hard to come by.”

That challenge eventually became an opportunity. Rather than simply collecting vintage Kars rugs, we wanted to build a collection that honored everything we love about them while allowing the tradition to continue evolving.

Our Kars Collection brings together carefully selected vintage rugs alongside newly woven interpretations crafted in Turkey using hand-spun wool reclaimed from vintage Turkish kilims and undyed wool. Rather than creating exact reproductions, our goal has always been to preserve the vitality, spontaneity, and individuality that have defined authentic Kars weaving for generations.

Our goal was never to recreate vintage Kars rugs knot for knot. That would miss the point entirely. What makes Kars so compelling isn’t perfect repetition—it’s creative interpretation. Every rug follows a familiar design language, but every weaver leaves something of themselves behind.

That’s why finding the right weaving partners for our Kars Collection mattered so much. As Ben explains, technical skill alone isn’t enough:

“There are skilled weavers in India. There are skilled weavers in Afghanistan. There are really skilled weavers in Nepal. But the skill of not following the rules is the hardest one, and it kind of only exists in Turkey these days. To get that vitality and that creativity, you have to sort of follow a general map but deviate and add your own ideas. And those weavers in Turkey, for this type of pile rug, they’re the only ones that can do it in the modern day.”

That philosophy is at the heart of our Kars Collection. Rather than asking our weavers to copy an antique design exactly, we encourage the same creative spirit that made the originals so compelling in the first place. Each rug is rooted in tradition while allowing room for the individuality that has always defined authentic Kars weaving.

When I asked Ben what he hopes this collection becomes years from now, he didn’t talk about trends or sales; he talked about legacy. 

“My dream for stuff like this is always… there are certain rugs that I like to envision in 100 or 120 years selling at Sotheby’s. I don’t want to make a ton of them. I want to make a good amount of them. I want people to have them, and I want to them to be a cool village rug for the future collector.”