At last month’s NeoCon, Mohawk Group won five top awards in three flooring categories, including Gold and Sustainability awards for Painted Perspectives in the Broadloom Carpet category; Gold and Sustainability awards for Social Canvas in the Modular Carpet category; and a Gold Award for Pattern of Time in the Vinyl/LVT flooring category. The Social Canvas and Painted Perspectives collections were both part of a collaboration with ArtLifting, which offers an inclusive platform for marginalized artists. The company also exhibited the Timeless Tailored modular carpet and Fractal Fluency, an extension of the concepts from the Relaxing Floors collection.

Curious about the secret to their success, officeinsight interviewed both Jackie Dettmar, Vice President Marketing, Design and Product Development at Mohawk Group, and Royce Epstein, Mohawk Group’s A&D Design Director, to talk about what the company is doing differently, what their new collections bring to the table, and what’s in store for the future.

Officeinsight was curious about what Mohawk is doing differently as we emerge from the pandemic. “We all realized the importance of community and incorporating ways to support inclusion and community in our product development,” explained Dettmar. “Our Better Together initiatives give back to organizations through product specifications. We have many problems to solve in this world and businesses as well as individuals have to lead the way to making the world a better place in every way we can.”
For example, Mohawk Group’s Social Canvas collection speaks to the triumph of the human spirit. The first of the two collections, Painted Perspectives, expresses the inclusive power of art and its ability to create communities. The soft surface collection developed from the work of two artists, Alicia Sterling Beach and Scott Benner, both of whom are part of the ArtLifting community.
Designers from Mohawk Group’s in-house studio were inspired by the work of Beach and Benner and created carpet patterns that integrated layers, textures, and techniques from the artists. The Social Canvas collection was based on artist Charlie French’s abstract painterly style, depicted in multiple styles, each viewed as a different canvas. “This was Mohawk’s first foray into a product collection that was about inclusion and social justice because we partnered with an organization called ArtLifting and they champion artists who are affected by housing insecurity or disabilities,” said Epstein. “The platform creates opportunities for these underrepresented artists to amplify their voices and participate in the contemporary art and design market.”

“Jackie Dettmar always says we don’t need to just make carpet to make carpet,” continued Epstein, who explained that Mohawk wants to use their platform of manufacturing to also make the most sustainable products possible that also have some kind of meaning. “The company is designing from a sustainability standpoint, giving back more resources than we take,” said Epstein. “The idea here is that in order to have regeneration, renewable regrowth and combat all the problems that we’re having with the environment, we need to have a different philosophy. So for us, we’re giving back more resources, and this is from every manufacturing level.”
Dettmar further explained that Mohawk is looking at sustainability from a holistic view, and she believes that everything in this world is connected and you can’t move one lever without affecting another. This means that the company looks at wellbeing and material innovations in addition to focusing on reducing their carbon and water footprints. “Then we offset what is left by supporting projects that restore resources and also have a social impact on marginalized communities,” she said. “We believe that getting to neutral is not good enough so we contribute an extra 5% to make our products Beyond Carbon Neutral.”

Curious about wider trends, officeinsight asked Dettmar if she was seeing any trends evolve in the architecture and design market: “Flexibility, Wellness/Wellbeing, Collaboration, and Accessibility are all trends that are evolving quickly in the office sector,” Dettmar said. “People need to have reasons why they need to be in office and have spaces/tools that adjust to fit the task at hand and make work easier.”

In terms of where design is headed, Epstein sees that design is really responding to the big global events such as the climate crisis, the pandemic, and social justice. She believes that we are at a crossroads with how to respond to the profound changes in society today, pointing out that under the weight of post-pandemic shifts , humanity will emerge different than before. “In fact, new worlds are emerging now that show a new path forward,” said Epstein, who will be discussing these trends this week with her online CEU talk on Wednesday, July 27 at noon EST (officeinsight readers can register for the online session for free at mohawkgroup.com/ceu).

Her talk will explore these current new worlds within three categories: the Grown World, the Built World, and the Meta World, along with a brief look at emerging societies that have paved new roads before us. “As part of the talk, I’ll also present a quick 2023 color forecast based on these new trends,” said Epstein.
