Morocco, an important cashmere-producing region in the Euro-African continent, is also the birthplace of the home brand Beni Rugs. This gateway from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean, bordered by the Sahara Desert plateau to the southeast, is traversed by the Atlas Mountains, which block the southern heat, making it a paradise for livestock with a pleasant climate all year round. In this ‘Cool Paradise of North Africa,’ the handmade carpet brand Beni Rugs was born. In 2018, Robert Wright and Tiberio Lobo-Navia founded Beni Rugs in Morocco, carrying forward the local hand-weaving craftsmanship that has surpassed ten thousand years, and creating modern and stylish carpet fabrics.
1. A shepherd tends a flock of sheep in the Atlas Mountains. In the summer, the flock is sheared of its winter wool. It can take 50-100 coats to make a standard sized rug. In Morocco, carpet production begins in the summer. At the foot of the Atlas Mountains, men are responsible for shearing wool. A standard-sized carpet requires the wool from 50-100 sheep to be made.
5. The women initiate the lengthy process of weaving a design. Each woman (sometimes in collaboration with a partner) is responsible for a rug from its inception to completion. This can take over a month of knot tying. After dyeing, the intricate process of weaving and knotting begins, which lasts for more than a month. Beni Rugs insists on employing local women to hand-tie each carpet, making each textile a unique piece of art.
6. The finished rugs are then rinsed with water, thoroughly cleaned, and hung over wooden racks to dry in the mountain air. Once the carpets are shaped and thoroughly washed, they are ready to be packaged and sold. Every morning in Morocco, the streets are filled with the sight of rickshaws transporting carpets, and the city gradually wakes up amidst the bustling sounds of unloading goods. Today, Morocco’s vibrant open-air carpet markets remain a significant local feature. Beni Rugs, while inheriting Moroccan traditional craftsmanship, continues this ancient trading method, making the carpet selection process more intimate and reassuring. Beni Rugs’ Marrakech studio is characterized by a minimalist industrial style. In terms of soft furnishings, designers use a large area of carpets and tapestries to give the studio a cozy feel. Additionally, furniture and accessories mostly utilize natural materials such as ceramics, stone, and wood, injecting a primitive and vintage texture into the entire space. Beni Rugs’ Marrakech studio is not only a workshop but also an exhibition hall, creating a new way of selecting carpets. Unlike ordinary carpets, Beni Rugs uses traditional weaving as a blank canvas, supporting customization according to any preference. Customers can choose the pile length, color scheme, size, and color to best fit their space. It is often said that a carpet is the ‘fifth wall’ of a home; Beni Rugs’ selection method truly elevates the carpet to an art form that combines aesthetics and practicality. NO.1 Beni Rugs X Athena Calderone Collaboration with Athena, who boasts over 1 million followers on Ins, is a popular interior designer and a lifestyle influencer sharing insights on food and fashion.Although it has been established for less than six years, Beni Rugs has already received numerous praises in the industry. The Broken Symmetry collection, designed in collaboration with Athena Calderone in 2021, has been extremely popular. Athena describes herself as a “perfectionist who pursues imperfection”. The collaboration with Beni Rugs integrates her pursuit of an intellectual modern minimalist style into handmade carpets. Athena’s own home is the best example of her cooperation with Beni Rugs. This townhouse in Greece features an arched porch in the entrance hall that resembles the entrance of a hotel from the Art Deco era, which coincides with the jazz-like charm of the black tiled square carpet underfoot. The designer herself prefers bright and spacious spaces, and the living room in this villa makes good use of natural light. The sun shines through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the carpet, bringing a spring-like atmosphere throughout the year. The pattern of the carpet is composed of geometric shapes in different colors. The sharpness of geometry and the softness of the carpet create an artistic collision energy, jointly breaking through the boundaries of Moroccan weaving traditions. The fresh colors wash away the sun-baked feeling in Beni Rugs’ original genes, making it blend better into the modern home atmosphere. Stepping on the cashmere carpet, one feels as if they are in a greenhouse garden. The Broken Symmetry collection uses Beni Rugs’ consistent pure wool texture, which is hand-knotted one by one by local Moroccan women, resulting in a thick and dense texture. The quality of a fine handmade carpet can be seen in its weight and the neat weaving on both sides. Beni Rugs’ carpets can be used throughout the year. Use the front side in spring and summer, and the reverse side in autumn and winter, presenting a beautiful scene all year round. NO.2 Beni Rugs X Colin King Another interior designer with a deep connection to Beni Rugs is Colin King. Colin initially studied dance in New York and later switched to the field of interior design out of his love for creative arts. Currently, Colin is not only the art director of many world-leading brands and publications but also a regular contributor to magazines such as Architectural Digest. As an interior designer, Colin is good at combining the imperfections of natural materials with elegant modern decorations. Having collaborated with Beni Rugs for many years, they have jointly launched three carpet collections: The Shape of Color, Obscura, and Spoken Lines. The Shape of Color collection Obscura collection In the production of these carpets, each one is hand-dyed using natural plants.
Compared to Athena Calderone’s designs, Colin King’s works are filled with abstract colored geometric shapes, creating a more visually striking effect. In the ‘The Shape of Color’ series, Colin King’s three collections for Beni Rugs, the Spoken Lines series best embodies the interweaving of classic art and contemporary aesthetics. The Spoken Lines series draws inspiration from the Italian entrance corridors adorned with mosaics and the iconic architecture of Piero Portaluppi, abstracting concrete architecture and mosaic works into lines, geometry, and color blocks, condensing the rhythm of millennia of art within a small space. The Spoken Lines series of ‘The Shape of Color’ includes nine new styles and five fresh tones, with options such as olive, slate, golden nanmu, pebble, and linen colors. The delicate color sense of the fabric intersects with the collective shapes in the space, creating a collision of gentleness and roughness. In the interior space arranged by Spoken Lines, there is tranquility, yet it seems as if one can hear the whispers of the fabric. NO.3 Beni Rugs’ New York Showroom designed by Colin King The New York showroom of Beni Rugs, designed by Colin King, is also personally crafted by him. The cream-colored main tone gives a feeling like a spring breeze, and soft carpets cover every corner, making it an ideal residence that one would want to move into just by looking at a photo.
