Words by Allegra Salvadori

At Iwan Maktabi’s flagship on Jumeirah Beach Road, rugs become landscapes of memory and material. The latest showcases by Jan Kath and Atelier Février unfold as a two-floor dialogue between heritage and innovation—two voices, one craft.

On the sun-lit ground floor, Atelier Février, founded by Isha Mukhia Pretet and Florian Pretet, turns hand-drawn lines into richly woven poetry. Pieces like Besti, Ceramic, and Équilibre play with rhythm and texture, evoking the quiet beauty of imperfection. “Our rugs are born from sketches, where every line has a story,” explains Florian Pretet. “Here, visitors can walk around the pieces, notice the shifts in colour and detail, and feel the drawings come alive under their feet.”

Upstairs, the atmosphere deepens with Jan Kath’s powerful reimagining of hand-knotted traditions. Kirman Robson, Bidjar Paddington, and Tabriz Canal A revisit classical Persian craftsmanship with contemporary precision, while Jardin de Paris and Mamluk Elswick reveal layered surfaces alive with time and tone. “Every carpet carries traces of time,” says Kath. “In Dubai, I wanted to show how classical design can breathe in a contemporary way.”

For Mohamed Maktabi, Co-Founder and Creative Director, the exhibition embodies the family’s ethos: “We’ve always aimed to present rugs as cultural artefacts—pieces that transcend decoration to tell stories of heritage and innovation.”

Completing the experience, Poltrona Frau introduces a curated selection of Italian design icons—from Faye Toogood’s sculptural Squash Armchair to Michele De Lucchi’s Marianne Vase—offering a contemporary counterpoint to the textile artistry below.

In this layered presentation, Iwan Maktabi reaffirms its role as the region’s design interlocutor: a house where craft, culture, and contemporary design continuously meet and evolve.