The Future Is Living Products at NeoCon 2018

What do you do when the world’s leading commercial design show is in its 50th year? Celebrate! In its history, NeoCon has championed fifty years of product evolution, fifty years of innovation and education, fifty years of all the best the industry has to offer. We were proud and excited to sponsor the title event at this year’s convention while showcasing the best in commercial flooring.

The theme of this year’s celebration was The Future Is and it was a beautifully inspired space underneath the Chicago skyline. We had an incredible time, shutting down South Street with live music, food, drinks and plenty of merriment as we ushered in the more than 2,500 attendees, who assembled along the riverfront to toast the convention’s anniversary. But we also managed to spark some serious conversation about sustainability and the goal of eliminating footprints while creating beneficial handprints.

At Mohawk Group, we Believe in Better, and in that spirit, we’re committed to creating better products for a better world. The theme of the NeoCon celebration was “The Future Is”, and we believe that The Future Is Living Products.

At the celebration, as well as in our showroom, we showcased five brand new carbon-neutral flooring products at NeoCon, all of which achieved Living Product Challenge Petal Certification. These Living Products were designed to minimize our environmental footprint while leaving a positive handprint on our planet, and the people who inhabit it.

To celebrate the past, present and future of design and innovation, we created lounge spaces along South Street, each based on one of the pillars of industry: Design, Innovation, Sustainability, Process, Craft and Community. And on the floors of each lounge, we installed one of our stand-out flooring options.

Our newest Living Product, Nutopia, was featured on the floor of the Design lounge. Inspired by the concept of “urban fabric”, the carpet planks have undulating striations that give the impression of a city skyline. The four styles in the collection can be used individually or as a cohesive system.

Shadow Pass was a fitting choice for the Craft tent since the Sunweave collection borrows patterns crafted by women weavers of indigenous cultures. The grand linear ombre shadow in the woven carpet replicates shadows falling across the crafters’ looms.

Also on display in the lounge spaces were a few flooring favorites! The Sustainability lounge appropriately put the spotlight on Lichen, the first ever flooring product to achieve Living Product Challenge Petal certification. Based on the idea of “nature’s carpet”, the biophilic collection was inspired by rich, multi-hued, multi-textured lichens and the patterned bloomed beautifully across the space.

In the Innovation lounge, our popular Goonj broadloom intertwined heritage with evolving trends. Named with the Hindi word for “echo”, Goonj’s traditional motifs appear and disappear through layers of texture, with influences from William Morris-era floral elements.

We thoroughly enjoyed spending quality time with our customers both at the event and in our newly renovated showroom space, and it was exciting to see the enthusiasm from the industry for our new Living Products. It’s why we were so proud to accept several awards for our new class of sustainable products at the convention.

Heathered Hues, used for all of our broadloom and carpet tile Living Products, won a Best of NeoCon Gold Award in the Carpet Fiber category. The dematerialized yarn uses no water for its production, and our direct tuft technology minimizes energy and carbon dioxide impact while making the fiber easy to recycle. It’s bold, vibrant colors made it a popular spot for showroom selfies!

Our new Red List-free ERT, Pivot Point, brought home a Metropolis Likes NeoCon award, while our new Healthy Environments captured a Best of NeoCon Innovation Award in Healthcare Flooring.

An Interior Design HiP Product Award in the Education/Government/Institutional Flooring category was bestowed on our Color Balance carpet tile. And we’re especially proud of our Workplace and Retail RVP Fred Zebro, who was honored with an Interior Design HiP People Award!

With NeoCon’s golden anniversary in the books, we’re thrilled to see what the next 50 years hold as the commercial design industry pushes forward with an eye toward a more sustainable future. Whatever comes, you can expect to see Mohawk Group pioneering the way.