These days, the Swiss Alpine chalet typology – a sturdy wooden house resting on stone foundations with shutters and a gable roof – is often celebrated as the epitome of off-the-grid luxury. Yet its roots are humble: chalets emerged in 14th-century Switzerland as practical dwellings for goat herders and dairy farmers seeking shelter during the summer grazing season. Derived from the Old French term chahtelèt, meaning ‘shepherd's hut’, these buildings were utilitarian at heart. By the early 20th century, with the rise of ski culture, these modest homes transformed into sophisticated winter retreats, conjuring nostalgia, warmth, and camaraderie by the fireside.
Inspired by the chalet's storied evolution, Moroccan rug brand Beni Rugs has created ‘Chalet’, a seasonal collection of ten tall-pile, heritage-quality wool rugs designed to evoke the warmth and comfort of the Swiss chalet.
'Much like the old-world techniques of chalet construction, the process of Moroccan rug-making speaks a language of sturdiness and longevity,' says Robert Wright, who co-founded Beni Rugs with Tiberio Lobo-Navia in 2018. 'There’s an inarticulable allure to this kind of craftsmanship where memories are held in objects and spaces that persevere.'
The collection reimagines Alpine symbols with painterly designs in a distinctive Moroccan palette of burnt terracotta, Rhassoul clay and saffron flower hues. The collection's ivory wool was chosen to recall softly packed snow, while abundant pile heights offer an opulent, enveloping aesthetic.
'In the medium of rug-making, there’s a lot of conversation around pile-heights and how they play into the feeling of a space,' explains Tiberio Lobo-Navia. 'With Chalet, we were excited to dive feet-first into the opulence of abundance – with every rug’s wool piled high, it’s as if the material is reaching out to the interior and those within it.'
To launch the ‘Chalet’ collection, the team enlisted London-based photographer Billal Taright to photograph the new pieces in furniture collector Emmanuel de Bayser’s chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland. Taright's images showcase the rugs draped over chairs and layered across balconies in a series of cosy Alpine vignettes that also provide a peek at de Bayser's impressive collection of mid-century furniture.
'Beyond the Alps – and Bayer’s beautiful home as the collection’s backdrop – these rugs have a transportive quality about them,' comments interior designer Colin King, who serves as Beni’s artistic director at large. 'To rearticulate an everyday object, a rug, into something that reminds you to daydream, is a powerful tool in creating a space for yourself.'
Each rug is made at the brand's HQ outside of Marrakech where Beni operates the first vertically integrated production facility of its kind in Morocco. Here, rugs are designed, hand-made by a team of weavers, and sold under one roof. All of the wool is sourced locally, sheared humanely from live Moroccan sheep grazing in the Atlas Mountains, before being cleaned, spun, and dyed in state-of-the-art facilities to ensure the its quality, softness, and consistency.
The release of ‘Chalet’ follows Beni Rugs’ recent partnership with designer Athena Calderone, which resulted in ‘Salon’, an art-deco-inspired collection that introduced a new 'low pile' rug typology. The partnership reflects the brand’s ongoing engagement with diverse creative influences, including the appointment of King.
benirugs.com
