Rug Purveyor Keyvan Rahmanan
Born in Tehran, Iran, French Accents Rugs and Tapestries, Inc. owner Keyvan Rahmanan is one of eight children who are all either designers or architects. His mother was a housewife and his father worked as a supervisor of a rug company which was Keyvan’s first contact with the rug industry.
“I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands and fixing things and when my father took me to work with him my love of rugs began,” Keyvan explained.
At age 15, Keyvanmoved to the United States and after high school he worked for a well-known antique rug company. In 1979, when Keyvan was 21 years old, his family left Iran and in an effort to support himself and his family, Keyvan started his own business – Rahmanan’s Antique Rugs.
In the late 1980s, Keyvan noticed that Aubusson tapestries were peaking in price at auctions so he used his expertise to recreate them in China and introduce them to America under the brand French Accents. He went to China to find a factory to make Aubussons and spent months training the Chinese how to accurately create them.
The first in the market to introduce Aubussons, Keyvan started his new rug business called French Accents Rugs and Tapestries, Inc. in 1994. Featuring the Aubusson collection and later adding the Tapestry and Savonnerie Collections, French Accents became known for authentic products sold at fair prices. Based in New York City, the family owned and operated company has rug production facilities in India, China, Turkey and most recently, Nepal.
In 1999, Keyvan decided to have his oriental antique rug collection repaired in China because the labor costs in New York were too expensive. As a result, he came up with the idea to reproduce these oriental rugs using new texture, design and weave, giving the rug authenticity. He also used current colors rather than the outdated antique color palette that had been used for centuries.
“The idea was to bring classic quality with updated colors to these newly-reproduced oriental rugs,” Keyvan explained. “We expanded from making only French style products to oriental inspired reproduced rugs and later went to India, Pakistan, Turkey and Nepal where I was able to share my knowledge of rugs to the factories there."
A hands-on artisan, Keyvan travels abroad to the factories every three to four months and handles the new production training for his weavers and artisans.
“I enjoy creating affordable rugs so if I see a rare antique rug that is priced astronomically, I want to recreate it where it’s reasonable,” he said. “It’s a challenge for me to figure out the weaving technique, getting the colors right and whether the wool should be mill or hand spun.”
The Scarab carries a variety of French Accents collections including Grooves, Oushaks, Retro Serapis, Classic Khotans and Traditional Khotans.
“Working with Larry has been great,” Keyvan added. “He’s smart, informative, knowledgeable, charismatic and down to earth. Thus far, working and collaborating with Larry has been easy, stress free and enjoyable.”
View The Scarab's selection of rugs from French Accents.
Latest News
Retro Serapi Collection: A line of rugs by French Accents.