What makes Azilal rug so unique
Azilal rugs are proof that a Moroccan rug doesn't have to follow tradition to be traditional, bright, abstract, and woven from memory rather than a pattern book.
Named for the mountainous region roughly 180km from Marrakech where Berber women have woven them for generations, Azilal has become one of the most sought-after alternatives to the better-known Beni Ourain. Here's what sets it apart.
Where the Rug Comes From
Azilal rugs take their name from the High Atlas region where they're made, and from the tribal women who've kept the craft alive family to family, generation to generation. What started as an everyday tradition in one of Morocco's steepest regions has since travelled well beyond it: Azilal is now a popular alternative to the better-known Beni Ourain rug, prized for the same aboriginal patterns and colour palettes that first defined it in the Azilal mountains.
How an Azilal Rug Is Made
The bright, saturated colour comes from the Boucherouite tradition, tinted wool or coloured cotton thread worked in against a natural base.
The graphic, abstract patterning borrows from Beni Ourain rug-making, the two traditions combined into something distinct from either.
The weaving technique is what sets an Azilal rug apart from both: the weaver alternates a knotted line with one or two braided lines, producing a shorter, velvet-like pile that's noticeably plusher underfoot than a typical flatweave, soft and dense enough that most people end up lying on it rather than just standing on it.
The Colour and Meaning in Every Piece
Colour is introduced with tinted wool or coloured cotton thread, worked in against a base that's usually left white or cream, the natural colour of the virgin wool, which gives every rug a built-in authenticity no dye can fake. The patterns aren't purely decorative, either: many are read as a record of the weaver herself, standing in for the femininity of Berber women and the history of the tribe she comes from.
Why Choose an Azilal Rug
Every Azilal rug is woven exclusively by the women of the region, which makes each one closer to an abstract painting than a mass-produced pattern, and gives a room the rustic, ethnic character that's hard to fake with anything else. The softness, colour, and design travel well too, at home in a vintage-styled room, and just as much at home against something entirely contemporary.
The Azilal Rug, In Short
Named for the High Atlas region, and the Berber women who weave it, generation to generation.
Combines Boucherouite colour with Beni Ourain pattern, in a technique that's entirely its own.
Woven with a knotted-and-braided technique, for a shorter, velvet-like pile.
Left white or cream at the base, the natural colour of the wool.
No two rugs alike, since the pattern is closer to a signature than a template.
Shop Benisouk's collection of hand-knotted Azilal rugs and explore more of our Moroccan decor, woven by artisans in the High Atlas.
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