This February, designer David Netto got a troubling email from a longtime vendor. After 40 years in business, the company was planning to shut its doors, and would need upfront payment to make his order go through. Netto responded quickly and decisively: Yes, he’d front the money—and also, was the company for sale?

The vendor in question was New York–based rug brand Woodard Weave, and three short months later, Netto is now officially its proud owner. “They have been my go-to for runners and stair rugs. They have a kaleidoscope of options, an encyclopedic range of designs and vibes you can fit in any house,” he says, noting that the volume of Woodard Weave in his projects over the years exceeds almost any other vendor. “That, to me, could not be allowed to go away.”

Woodard Weave was founded by the husband-and-wife duo Thomas K. Woodard and Blanche Greenstein. Originally, the two largely focused on selling antique American quilts. But in 1981, a chance encounter with an overseas manufacturer spawned a woven rug line inspired by the classic patterns they knew from their day job.

The line was a hit with decorators. In particular, the company’s reasonably priced runners offered variety and value in a category not known for either. If not exactly a household name, Woodard Weave was a go-to for the big Northeast decorators of the 1980s and ’90s. Jed Johnson, Mariette Himes Gomez and Tom Scheerer all used them—and so did a young up-and-comer named David Netto.

“Anybody who used American Shaker in a cool way, with a certain amount of minimalism—you would look and notice these incredible rugs, because they had this Pennsylvania Amish vividness-yet-plainness. The price was also very palatable,” says Netto. “I’ve used them in ski houses, in Nantucket, in small houses, in significant Southampton oceanfront houses. Very glamorous, expensive projects have just as much Woodard Weave as the small stuff. … They made my houses look good enough to be in AD. I got a book deal out of Woodard Weave as much as anybody.”

Over time, the Woodard Weave look faded from vogue, as Americana’s influence waned and an aggressively monochromatic pall settled over the industry in the 2000s. But the company chugged along, working with its original factory, selling to its longtime clients via a warehouse in Queens, New York. But when Greenstein passed away in 2023, Woodard, now in his 80s, started looking to close up shop.

Though Netto acquired Woodard Weave partially to keep it as a source (“I’m going to be buying all these rugs and paying myself,” he half-jokes), he has plans for the company. He has already retained Charleston, South Carolina–based creative agency Fuzzco to help him reimagine the brand for a new generation of designers, and is buzzing at the potential.

“This is a great American brand, completely asleep. It’s as American as Ralph Lauren for what it does. It’s in a subcategory that’s very specific, but the way Ralph Lauren is the most American multilevel lifestyle—this is that for rugs,” says Netto. “So we don’t need to change that. We need to make it cool.”

Beyond zhuzhing up the branding, Netto has his sights on expanding the product selection, as well as its applications. “The first thing I want to do is work with Hinckley yachts and make their mats. There are all these cross-branding [opportunities],” he says. “Let’s get that core product into more rooms, and then boats, get it outdoors. When I look at striped belts on preppy men in Maine, those could be from our designs.”

Though Netto is mostly known these days as a designer, owning a brand is a full-circle moment. In the early 2000s, he made a splash by founding NettoCollection, a line of high-design nursery furniture that was acquired by stroller makers Maclaren in 2009. A recent trip to visit Soane’s production facilities in England (Netto designs lighting for the company) rekindled his merchant spirit.

“Most people in service businesses fantasize about making a product that’s going to keep going, whether you’re in the office or not,” he says. “I want to try to do something like [Soane] in my life. As a designer, I’m going to have rich people yelling at me to move toilets. But if I [produce] this beautiful product, it’s going to have a longer life than I am, and [create an opportunity to] build a real business, instead of just my name on the door and the hours of the day to sell.”