woven trades in rugs and has done so since 1960, when as a 13-year-old our founder, abraham moradzadeh, sold his first persian, and he hasn’t stopped since. abraham entered the rug trade in provincial isfahan, then at 18 opened a small store in cosmopolitan tehran, close to the british embassy. he attracted an audience of expats and tourists by organizing salons where tea and local dishes were served, and abraham told stories about the origins of rugs and how to identify their qualities. in 1980, due to the suffocating hold of the intolerant islamic revolution, he had no choice but to abandon his once thriving business and leave with his young wife, madlen, and 1-year-old son, sam, the furthest west he could go, to los angeles, and start all over again. fortunately—through friendships started at his salons back in tehran, for instance, with an american peace corps worker—he was able to send a few rugs ahead to the states, and this afforded him his start-up capital.

nowadays - the father of two sons and two daughters and grandfather of eight, with his oldest son, sam, firmly in charge of the daily business and his youngest offspring, ben, joining the firm in 2015 - abraham travels the world's rug fairs and bazaars as a modern-day indiana jones (with the hat collection to match) on a search to unearth treasures to add to the stock, each rug selected for a distinct quality that he knows is - or soon will be - of lasting value. woven's carefully curated inventory of handwoven antique and vintage rugs was hand-selected by our globe-trotting expert, known for his sharp instincts and ability to see that a rug has the potential to hold a room again. this discerning eye, guided by over 50 years of experience, has earned him a reputation as a master of the trade, trusted and welcomed worldwide, the embodiment of an american dream come true.

since joining the family business in 2005, sam has introduced a series of innovations to continue to make the company stand out as a one-of-a-kind brand where trend meets tradition. abraham’s oriental rug gallery was renamed woven accents (now simply woven); the stack of 3,000 polaroids was converted to a fully searchable website (woven.is); in 2016 he spearheaded the launch of studio woven as the creative director; and property was acquired on upscale melrose avenue to build a 10,000-square-foot modern-day trade outpost at the center of the thriving west hollywood design district. from one space to the next, woven’s storefront transforms from a gallery space of magnificent curiosities to a bustling bazaar where interior designers meet with woven staff daily to match their vision with an inventory overflowing from the packed warehouse upstairs.

organically over the years, sam assembled a talented team of sales, development and design professionals to help him bring a certain west coast vitality to the age-old rug trade. in 2013, began woven’s transformation to a creative company, as well as a sometime patron of the arts, that actively engages in conversations and collaborations with artists and designers to explore and expand upon the notion of rug as place, where rugs ground the idea of home, culture and comfort. woven curated the ongoing “changing the conversation” installations in our gallery storefront and worked closely with the makers to realize their showcases, turning the window display into a dynamic billboard. street artist RISK turned the facade into a bold and diverse rainbow of colors as statement versus the monochromatic pacific design center. for the 'one love' collection of limited-edition urban art rugs, launched in 2014, sam built bridges to six contemporary artists, inviting them to use antique rugs as their canvas. sam was liberated when he handed artist kenny scharf a $30,000 antique oushak from the family treasure chest to spray-paint on and now offers it as an original work of art on 1stdibs.