Athena Calderone Collaborates with Beni Rugs on a New Collection of Handwoven Carpets

“I felt like taking a threat,” says designer, writer, and life-style guru Athena Calderone, recalling the hunt for a rug to furnish her Lengthy Island dwelling. On the time, she was craving one thing exterior her go-to impartial palette. Trying by way of Instagram, her eye settled upon the rusty hue of a Beni Rugs flat weave. A couple of DMs later, Calderone had not solely snagged the floorcovering however set a collaboration into movement, the outcomes of that are launching this fall. Titled Damaged Symmetry, her debut assortment for Beni features a dozen high-pile rugs in heat, sun-faded hues—all handmade on vertical looms by Berber ladies in Morocco. “The yarns are hand-dyed after which washed, giving every thing this factor of imperfection and shock,” says the designer. “I actually leaned into that.” The partnership was a full-circle second for Calderone, who credit a 2005 go to to Marrakech with an all-around stress-free of her celebrated private fashion. The appreciation of texture and patina she developed there, blended with cultural references to artist Agnes Martin and architect Luis Barragán, impressed unfastened checkerboards, easy geomet- rics, and refined stripes, all of which counterpoint the age-old artisanal processes. Says Calderone of her intuitive strategy: “I’d begin with a sample after which pull issues away.” benirugs.com —Hannah Martin

Extra inside Athena Calderone’s Collaboration with Beni Rugs

$602.00, Beni Rugs

$602.00, Beni Rugs

$602.00, Beni Rugs

$.00, Beni Rugs

Initially Appeared on Architectural Digest