� THE ART OF CARPET
Best Art Restorers
KHOSROW SOBHE :
“ I love carpet making for stories and surprises ”
Khosrow Sobhe is the second generation of the family carpet business , which began in Tehran . Today RUG IDEAS & LOS ANGELES RUG CLEANING is in Los Angeles , offering not only carpets for sale , but also providing related services : from cleaning carpets to estimation . Among the clients are Barbara Streisand , Adam Sandler , the Kardashian family and other celebrities . What is the secret of this success ? Answers are in our interview .
►Your father started a family carpet business in the middle of the last century , selling and servicing carpets in Tehran . What is the dearest childhood experience with carpets ? - Yes , I have a lot of recollections , but one case is special . When I was 13 years old , I saved up $ 15 and bought my first carpet from my father . This was a small Persian rug Lilian ( Markazi province , Iran ). It is still with me in our Los Angeles shop . One day a client offered to buy it for $ 600 . But I said that this is an heirloom and it will go to my son Hashayar . He is working with me as the vice president of our company with 68 years of history .
►You have made a career far from the carpet business . Why did you decide to continue the family business ? - After graduating from the University of Southern California , I returned to Tehran in 1982 and was hired by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education . I combined three senior positions ( Vice President of Planning at the Organization for Science and Technology of Iran , Director of Research Policy , Deputy Director of the Iranian National Commission for UN Affairs ). But because of my character , I could not have bosses over me , I felt like in a cage . In early 1986 , I joined my three younger brothers , sold off our family carpet business and opened a warehouse and an office in the Free Port of Hamburg in Germany . We worked there until 1992 , and then moved to Tehran . In 2003 my family and I moved to the USA and founded RUG IDEAS & LOS ANGELES RUG CLEANING , a full service carpet manufacturing and sales company .
►In the 80s , you became a member of the Board of Directors and Representative of the Iranian Carpet Exporters Association , with over 600 carpet experts and millions of dollars in annual exports . As an Iranian , is it important to you to promote carpet culture around the world ? - For me , this is a personal mission to help and support Iranian weavers and those who create such art objects . We must preserve this ancient art form and pass it on to future generations . For me , a Persian rug is more than just a rug . It is a way and style of life , full of history , stories , traditions and culture .
►You are saving carpets which are one hundred or two hundred years old . Why is it important for you to preserve the inherited carpet ? - Our workplace , mine and my son Hashayar ’ s , who is the third generation in the carpet business , is our personal Disneyland . We really love to work with carpets , most of which are very old , antique and keep wonderful stories . We love to take care of them , we try to preserve them . Today this ancient craft is lost and disappears . Therefore , we try to give more information to the public and the owners of these art objects , convincing them to preserve the heritage and pass it on to the next generation .
►You are the only person in Los Angeles who is officially recognized as a Certified Carpet Specialist and Certified Carpet Appraiser . Do you think it is possible to study to become a carpet expert or is the continuity of traditions important here ? - No one can claim that he or she is a master , since everyone knows only a small part of this ancient craft . This ocean is so deep that no one can reach the bottom of it . However , we must try to learn more every day in order to receive more pleasure .
►How does the carpet estimation work ? What is the most memorable carpet you ’ ve estimated ? - We receive a lot of carpets for estimation and certification . There are a huge number of reasons for their certification : personal information , insurance claims , lawsuits , divorce proceedings , etc . There are many factors in evaluating a carpet : age , country of origin , condition of the carpet , size , design , number of knots etc . The most memorable carpet was an antique Persian carpet Farahan 14x24 m , about 140 years old . It was valued at $ 100,000 .
@ khosrow . sobhe
A R T / C A R P E T 58