Taftan Series

The Taftan Series is a loom-woven rug line in bamboo viscose, drawn from Oushak patterns and finished by hand in Simav, in Kütahya province. The knots are tied by machine; the shearing and the fringes are done by hand, which is why a Taftan rug reads as handwoven and still repeats exactly.

Two things about this series get confused, so they are worth separating at the start. The patterns are Oushak — the western Anatolian drawing tradition of wide medallions and large floral forms. The weavers are in Simav, in Kütahya, which is a different province. What follows is how the series is built, what the fiber actually is, what colors and sizes exist, and how to look after one.

Is a Taftan rug handmade or machine-made?

Both, in a fixed division of labor. The knotting is done by machine on the loom — that is the part that gives the series its evenness and lets the same design come back in as many as sixteen sizes without drifting. Everything after the loom is hand work: the pile is trimmed by hand, the edges are closed by hand, and the fringes at both ends are tied one at a time by the women of Simav. The finished surface has the fringe and the trimmed pile of a handwoven rug on a structure that a hand-knotter could not produce at this price or this consistency.

Stage	Machine	Hand
Warp setting	Yes	—
Knotting the pile	Yes	—
Weft and structure	Yes	—
Shearing and finishing	—	Yes
Fringes at both ends	—	Yes, tied in Simav
Edge binding	—	Yes

If you want the other end of that scale, compare hand-knotted rugs, where every knot is tied by a person and one rug takes months.

What is the Taftan Series made of?

Bamboo viscose, and no wool at all. Bamboo viscose is a regenerated cellulose yarn: cellulose is extracted from bamboo pulp, dissolved, and extruded as filament. It is not a natural fiber in the sense that wool and cotton are, and it is not a petroleum-based synthetic like polyester or acrylic; it sits between the two. What it gives a rug is a high, cool sheen and a very smooth hand.

That sheen is the series' signature. Bamboo viscose reflects light directionally, so a Taftan rug looks lighter walking toward it and darker walking away, and the same rug photographs as two different colors from opposite ends of a room. The effect is stronger here than in Halıcızade's other loom-woven lines because of the dye and the surface treatment used on this series specifically. Cellulose pile is also softer than wool under concentrated wear — it shows footfall and recovers more slowly — which is worth weighing when you choose the room. See bamboo silk rugs and viscose rugs for the wider fiber group.

What colors and sizes does the series come in?

Ten designs, and 88 size-and-color combinations across them — counted from the current catalog rather than estimated. Five of the ten are gray, four beige, one mink; one gray design is dark enough to be listed as charcoal. There is no red, no blue and no strong color anywhere in the series: the whole palette is a warm-to-cool neutral range built to sit under furniture rather than compete with it.

Rectangles run from 80 × 140 cm (2'7" × 4'7") up to 300 × 390 cm. Runners are a real part of the line, not an afterthought — 90 cm wide at 150, 290, 300, 390, 400, 490 and 500 cm long, so a five-meter hall can be covered in one piece instead of two. Five round diameters are offered: 160, 180, 200, 250 and 300 cm. See hallway runners and round rugs.

What do the Oushak patterns look like on this series?

Softened, and deliberately faded. Eight of the ten designs are drawn as vintage Oushaks: a medallion or a large floral repeat, the outlines blurred and the ground abraded the way a hundred-year-old rug abrades, so that the pattern reads as a memory of itself. The other two are plain — sade — with no drawing at all beyond a shift in tone across the field.

Oushak is a weaving district in western Anatolia, and its classical drawing is what European painters put under the feet of their sitters in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: wide-set medallions, large-scale floral forms, an open field. The vintage treatment here takes that vocabulary and lowers the contrast, which is what lets the same rug work in a modern room and a traditional one. See Oushak rugs for the hand-knotted originals.

Where does a Taftan rug go?

Entrances and living rooms, which is where the series was aimed. The neutral ground takes whatever color is already in the room, the low pile does not trap a door swing, and the sheen does useful work in a hall that gets light from one end only. Four of the ten designs are made in round sizes, which suits a square entry or the space under a round dining table better than a rectangle does.

The one room to think twice about is a heavy-traffic corridor. Cellulose pile is smooth and cool and it shows footfall; a wool rug is the more forgiving choice where people walk in a line all day. Compare wool rugs if that is the floor you are covering.

How is a Taftan rug cleaned?

Vacuum with the beater bar off, in the direction of the pile. Blot spills immediately with a dry cloth and press rather than rub, because rubbing a cellulose pile breaks the filament and leaves a dull patch that no amount of later cleaning restores. For anything beyond a blot, use a rug shampoo made for viscose and lyocell pile, and test it on a corner first. Cellulose fiber loses strength when it is wet, so the series should not be soaked, scrubbed or put through a home washing machine; deep cleaning belongs with a professional rug washer.

Frequently asked questions

Are Taftan Series rugs handmade?

Partly. The knots are tied by machine on the loom, and the finishing is done by hand: the pile is sheared, the edges are closed, and the fringes at both ends are tied by hand by the women of Simav, in Kütahya province. The result carries the surface of a handwoven rug on a machine-knotted structure.

What is the Taftan Series made of?

Bamboo viscose. There is no wool in any of the ten designs. Bamboo viscose is a regenerated cellulose yarn spun from dissolved bamboo pulp, which is what gives the pile its high sheen and its smooth, cool hand underfoot.

Is bamboo viscose a natural fiber?

No. Bamboo viscose is a regenerated cellulose fiber: the cellulose comes from a plant, but it is chemically dissolved and re-formed into filament. That places it between natural fibers such as wool and cotton and petroleum-based synthetics such as polyester and acrylic.

Where are Taftan Series rugs woven?

In Türkiye. The loom work is machine-knotted and the hand finishing is done in Simav, a district of Kütahya province in western Anatolia. The patterns are Oushak, from the neighboring weaving region of Uşak, but the weavers themselves are in Simav.

What colors does the Taftan Series come in?

Neutrals only. Of the ten designs, five are gray, four are beige and one is mink, with one of the grays dark enough to be listed as charcoal. There is no red, blue or other strong color anywhere in the series.

What sizes does the Taftan Series come in?

Ten designs in 88 size-and-color combinations. Rectangles run from 80 by 140 cm to 300 by 390 cm, runners are 90 cm wide in lengths up to 500 cm, and round rugs are offered at 160, 180, 200, 250 and 300 cm across.

How is a Taftan rug cleaned?

Vacuum with the beater bar off and blot spills with a dry cloth, pressing rather than rubbing. Use a shampoo intended for viscose or lyocell pile and test it on a corner. Cellulose fiber weakens when wet, so deep cleaning belongs with a professional rug washer.

Related collections: Eko rugs · bamboo silk rugs · Oushak rugs · loom-woven rugs

Halıcızade Halı Kilim, Ankara Çankaya. Last updated: September 6, 2026.