The July 2013 edition of the bi-annual Atlanta International Area Rug Market, which ran last week through Sunday, brought to mind a rainbow.

The story this season was color and fashion, as rug suppliers proved they were not afraid to embrace palettes and patterns that make bold statements.

Here's a summary of some of the highlights so far:

* Capel breathed fresh air into its signature braided, USA-made line with the addition of the new Afternoon Tea program - an assortment of updated nylon varieties in rectangle and oval shapes donning a cooler, casual colors like tiger lily, sunshine, rosy posy, sweet pea, and blue iris.

* Couristan continued to expand its design portfolio with new transitional and soft contemporary styles via its recent alliance with designer Emma Gardner. Together, they have created a wool-and viscose, hand-tufted grouping as well as two polypropylene outdoor varieties - a power-loomed flat-woven and a hand-hooked. In the queue for January 2014 are two more additions to the program - broadloom and hospitality soft flooring products.

* Jaipur Rugs brought a hefty offering of new rug collections to market. A highlight is a "secret" wool and viscose construction that shines through in the new Wilton collection, a machine-made grouping designed to look like a hand-knotted product. Also noteworthy is the company's expansion of its flat-woven line with new saturated and beach-inspired colors along with simple design additions that include stripe looks. Candace Clarke, marketing director and private sales director, said, "Now our flat-weave business is the size of our hand-knotted business, and that is huge."

* Nourison and Kathy Ireland Worldwide debuted their collaborative collection, which spans a broad assortment of constructions and styles in both area rugs and decorative pillows. Alex Peykar, Nourison principal, told HTT the initial lineup represents the company's largest introductory offering in terms of count. For Kathy Ireland Worldwide, the new partnership brought the brand's customers and retail partners "a price to value equation that is second to none," said Rocco Ingemi, evp retail and brand management, Kathy Ireland Worldwide. "The design integrity of what we are doing together with Noursion is the cornerstone."

* Oriental Weavers put the spotlight on its exclusive program with Pantone. Using the color authority's expansive color library, OW interpreted a bevy of trend-right hues onto a variety of constructions, including printed, flat-wovens, shags and machine wovens.

* Artist Bob Timberlake made an all-day appearance at Shaw's showroom yesterday to present the latest additions - 36 new - to his USA-made collection of rugs. He shared his sources of inspiration for the designs, explaining his love of Amerciana art and collectibles, such as quilts, old Indian blankets, and Civil War relics, as well as for nature, including birds, feathers, and more.

* Safavieh and Isaac Mizrahi New York came to market with a commanding collection of rugs, in terms of both color and pattern. Bright palettes portray over-scaled florals, abstract modern art-like designs, geometrics, and even stripes in a way emblematic of the designer brand. In total, there are 22 patterns interpreted on hand-tufted and hand-hooked constructions for the launch.

* Surya significantly ramped up its already-generous line of flat weaves. Now at more than 400, the company's flat-woven design offering has grown by 30% over a year ago. That includes new styles from Surya's stable of designer license partners - Candice Olson, Jill Rosenwald, Kate Spain, B. Smith, Beth Lacefield, Malene B., Peter Som, and Angelo: Home, as well as Smithsonian and Country Living. Surya also came to market with its next generation of tween/teen rugs. Abigail is a grouping of extra-soft micro fiber rugs from china that don a collection of brightly colors soft modern youthful patterns, like bubbles, diagonal stripes, large-scale herringbone and others.