HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A flokati rug is a woven wool rug. They are shaggy in appearance, and are thick and soft. Modern wool or synthetic rugs may be purchased in a variety of colours.


Name

The word comes from the Aromanian ''floc'', from Latin ''floccus''.Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας ( Babiniotis Dictionary), (Λεξικό Μπαμπινιώτη), 1998, ''s.v.'' Another name for a similar style of rug is βελέντζα /vel'endza/ < Turkish ''velense'', possibly via Albanian ''velentse''.


History

Flokati were popular in the 1970s. The word first appeared in English in 1967. The term was created by the Greek Ministries of Finance, Industry, and Commerce to apply to a rug with certain specifications: hand woven in Greece, made of 100% wool (warp, weft, and pile), with total weight of at least 1800 grams of wool per square meter. The rug must also be "subjected to the water friction process" to create the unique pile. Gagalis Co. imported flokati from Greece starting in 1970 and sold them as "a new look in casual floor coverings." In the October 2005 ''Cosmo Girl'', designer Mark Montano suggested a flokati rug as a solution to the question, "What if my dormmate is the complete opposite of me?!"


Trivia

* Flokati rugs were offered as prizes on the 1980s game show ''
Press Your Luck ''Press Your Luck'' is an American television game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. It premiered on CBS daytime on September 19, 1983, and ended on September 26, 1986. The format is a retooling of an earlier Carruthers productio ...
'' (and often joked about when won). * They were recommended as being a good home furnishing choice in the 1977 May 52/1 issue of ''Bon Appétit.''


References

Rugs and carpets {{Textile-stub