Lees Wins Silver Best of NeoCon Award

Greensboro, NC, June 25--Lees Carpets’ commitment to innovation in contract floorcovering was recognized at NeoCon World’s Trade Fair 2003, the premier exhibition for the commercial furnishings industry, held June 16-18 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. The company’s latest collaborative endeavor, its rbn broadloom carpet collection, won the Silver Award in the broadloom category of this year’s Best of NeoCon Awards, sponsored annually by Contract magazine, The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. The collection’s initial designs were developed by students of North Carolina State University’s (NCSU) College of Design, and illustrate Lees’ commitment to carpet innovation and the design students’ connection to the new cutting-edge, technology-driven, kinetic city environment. “Lees always seeks to bring to market the most unique and innovative carpet options, and our collaboration with students from NCSU’s College of Design allowed us to once again raise the bar in terms of product technology and aesthetics,” said Jim McCallum, president of Lees Carpets. “Being recognized with a Silver Best of NeoCon Award not only illustrates Lees’ out-of-the-box thinking, but also gives this talented group of students the recognition they deserve for working on such a distinctive product.” Student designers include: Mia Loira Blume and Kerry Lane Robinson – Graphic Design; Shawn Sowers and Rachel Pontenziani – Industrial Design; and Harriet Hoover and Peg Gignoux – Textile Technology/ Art & Design. rbn carpet is a collection of three multi-level loop textures available in a palette of 10 neutral colors that creates a kinetic color experience. The designs display a modern metallic look as a result of Lees’ exclusive Elumicolor carpet yarn. Additionally, the dense construction of the rbn carpet collection is ideal for high visibility and signature areas of a facility. In creating rbn carpet, Lees employed Simplex tufting, a new tufting technology that enables Lees to create unlimited pile heights and the creation of shadowing, making yarns disappear and reappear on command. The yarn can be manipulated with pinpoint accuracy, and patterns can be deconstructed to expose and change the effect of the design.