Over 100 guests gathered to celebrate the partnership between The New School’s Parsons School of Design and leading global handwoven rug brand Obeetee, the foundational partner of the school’s Textiles MFA program. The program, which launched this year, affords students the opportunity to work with the Obeetee team to explore new markets, develop colors and patterns, introduce sustainability techniques to the brand, and create and innovate new design concepts for the global luxury market. The event unveiled conceptual design work by the Parsons students at Obeetee’s showroom, showcasing the work to buyers, editors and top design professionals in town for New York Home Fashions Market Week.

Notable guests included Obeetee’s Rudra Chatterjee, chairman, Patricia Ben-Zvi, president of North America, and Paul Austin, board member; Burak Cakmak, dean of Parsons Fashion; fashion designer Kay Unger; and designers Madeline Weinrib, Christian Dunbar, David Duncan, Genevieve Gorder, Ford Huniford, Kristen McGinnis and Brian Sawyer.

“We’re so pleased to celebrate this partnership with The New School’s Parsons School of Design on this groundbreaking program,” said Chatterjee. “For both our organizations, our commitment to thoughtfully crafted and sustainable design practices has made each of us the leaders in our markets. This is a true marriage of equals, and we’re both excited to be collaborating this way and be sharing our unique expertise and heritage with the students—the next generation of global design leaders.”

Images by John Sanderson/AnnieWatt.com