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Album Published May 17, 2025

Imperfect Beauty exhibition - 2020

LARUSI - Imperfect Beauty


An exhibition of Souad Larusi’s personal collection of vintage and contemporary textiles This beautifully curated selection is underpinned by a monochrome palette, allowing the workmanship in each handcrafted piece to shine. 'For me, the attraction lies in the tactility, the techniques used to make them', explains Souad, who has an innate understanding of how to apply these traditional textiles in contemporary interiors. A celebration of tradition, Souad’s fascinating collection showcases skills passed between generations, which are gradually dying out. From hand-spun woollen wraps worn by women in the north of Morocco, to hand-stitched Turkish quilts and an incredibly rare ‘postak’ skin rug from Kyrgyzstan, all of the pieces are shown in their original form and are united by the beauty of their imperfections. 'I’m always fascinated by the haptic qualities of the textiles, but also the visual structure; how the material is achieved,' she explains.  ‘I love how the design of these pieces have been made in a very free, expressive way. They are a real reflection of their makers.’

Exhibition photography: Michael Sinclair.  Styling: Alex Kristal.

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Album Published May 17, 2025

C-12 - Berber textile clutch

21.5 x 30 cm + 20cm loop handle

Your style in the palm of your hand.
One side in vintage Berber textile, the reverse in soft Italian leather.

Crimson - cobalt colour tartan fabric
Contrast cotton lining.

£49 inc. VAT

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Album Published May 17, 2025

C-08 - Berber textile clutch

21.5 x 30 cm + 20cm loop handle

Your style in the palm of your hand.
One side in vintage Berber textile, the reverse in soft Italian leather.

Indigo - pearl white  colour tartan fabric
Contrast cotton lining.

£49 inc. VAT

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Album Published May 17, 2025

C-05 - Berber textile clutch

21.5 x 30 cm + 20cm loop handle

Your style in the palm of your hand.
One side in vintage Berber textile, the reverse in soft Italian leather.

Teal - crimson - indigo  colour tartan fabric
Contrast cotton lining.

£49 inc. VAT

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Album Published May 17, 2025

C-04 - Berber textile clutch

21.5 x 30 cm + 20cm loop handle

Your style in the palm of your hand.
One side in vintage Berber textile, the reverse in soft Italian leather.

Pumpkin  orange and pearl white colour tartan fabric
Contrast cotton lining.

£49 inc. VAT

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Album Published May 17, 2025

C-02 - Berber textile clutch

21.5 x 30 cm + 20cm loop handle

Your style in the palm of your hand.
One side in vintage Berber textile, the reverse in soft Italian leather.
Maroon Violet and salmon colour tartan fabric

Contrast cotton lining.

£49 inc. VAT

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Album Published May 17, 2025

T-08 - Berber textile tote bag

35 x 48 x 12 cm with 38cm handle

Tote bags handcrafted from vintage Berber textiles, each piece is unique.
All bags have supple leather handles.
Contrast cotton lining with inside zip pocket.


Textile gusset bag: £102 inc. VAT


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Album Published May 17, 2025

T-04 - Berber textile tote bag

35 x 48 x 12 cm with 38cm handle

Tote bags handcrafted from vintage Berber textiles, each piece is unique.
All bags have supple leather handles.
Contrast cotton lining with inside zip pocket.


Textile gusset bag: £102 inc. VAT


Buy now  
Shipping Information

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Album Published May 17, 2025

T-03 - Berber textile tote bag

35 x 48 x 12 cm with 38cm handle

Tote bags handcrafted from vintage Berber textiles, each piece is unique.
All bags have supple leather handles.
Contrast cotton lining with inside zip pocket.


Textile gusset bag: £102 inc. VAT


Buy now  
Shipping Information

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Album Published May 17, 2025

T-02 - Berber textile tote bag

35 x 48 x 12 cm with 38cm handle

Tote bags handcrafted from vintage Berber textiles, each piece is unique.
All bags have supple leather handles.
Contrast cotton lining with inside zip pocket.


Textile gusset bag: £102 inc. VAT


Buy now  
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Album Published May 17, 2025

Linen Tote Bags (1 new item)

Dimensions: 40cm x 40cm
Price: £48

Available colours:
Chestnut
Teal

Red

These colourful and casual linen tote bags will become your trusted companion on shopping trips and when out and about; made from soft washed linen with great texture.


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Album Published May 17, 2025

T-01 - Berber textile tote bag

35 x 48 x 12 cm with 38cm handle

Tote bags handcrafted from vintage Berber textiles, each piece is unique.
All bags have supple leather handles.
Contrast cotton lining with inside zip pocket.


Textile gusset bag: £102 inc. VAT


Buy now  
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Album Published May 17, 2025

T09G - Berber textile tote bag

35 x 48 x 12 cm with 38cm handle

Tote bags handcrafted from vintage Berber textiles, each piece is unique.
These bags have supple leather handles with matching leather gusset.
Contrast cotton lining with inside zip pocket.


Leather gusset bag: £138 inc. VAT


Buy now 
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Album Published May 17, 2025

T-12 - Berber textile tote bag

35 x 48 x 12 cm with 38cm handle

Tote bags handcrafted from vintage Berber textiles, each piece is unique.
All bags have supple leather handles.
Contrast cotton lining with inside zip pocket.


Textile gusset bag: £102 inc. VAT


Buy now  
Shipping Information

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Album Published May 17, 2025

FO-298 - Ceramic vase

16 x 4 x 15 cm
Mid Century ceramic vase

£114

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Album Published May 17, 2025

FO-303 - Ceramic vase

9 x 9 x 20 cm
Mid Century ceramic vase

£108 inc. VAT

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Album Published May 17, 2025

FO-297 - Ceramic vessel

9 x 9 x 18 cm
Mid Century ceramic vase.

£168 inc. VAT

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Album Published May 17, 2025

FO-001-Berber mortar

24dia x 45 cm
Vintage Berber mortar

£240 inc. VAT

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Content Published May 16, 2025

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Album Published May 16, 2025

FO-215-Ethiopian chair

76 w x 61d x 35/ 62h - cm
Old Ethiopian chair, constructed of interlocking wood crescent shaped back and legs with woven leather strap seating.


£1068 inc. VAT

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Album Published May 15, 2025

T-05G - Berber textile tote bag

35 x 48 x 12 cm with 38cm handle

Tote bags handcrafted from vintage Berber textiles, each piece is unique.
These bags have supple leather handles with matching leather gusset.
Contrast cotton lining with inside zip pocket.


Leather gusset bag: £138 inc. VAT

Buy now  
Shipping Information

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Album Published May 15, 2025

On The Square x Larusi - 2025 (1 new item)

Collaboration with On The Square

Every house holds secrets, but 'On The Square' is a home designed to reveal them! Through hidden spaces, shifting light, and unexpected details, this Neo Jacobean Grade II house on East London’s De Beauvoir Square plays with perception, inviting discovery at every turn. Restored and brought to life by Irenie Studio, Larusi was delighted to be selected as one of the designers, artists and contemporary craft makers to collaborate on furnishing the interiors. Larusi provided vintage rugs and wall hangings for various spaces in the house.
Souad also collaborated, along with other designers - the Tweed Project, Tracy Neuls, Ally Capellino and Irenie Studio on a blanket as an act of co-creation with Irenie.  Souad’s aim was to engage with and add to the ‘canvas’ of the blanket, through a process of layering, stitching and knotting, enhancing the weave’s haptic qualities; she gathered materials from previous projects, scraps left over and yarns stumbled upon wherever she happens to find herself, in London, Paris, Istanbul or Marrakech. Colour, a most important element, is added as a field of patches and knots on the perimeter/selvedge of the blanket presenting itself at the foot of the bed when draped over. “I wanted this edit of a beautifully crafted textile to reflect the spirt of the house On the Square, a home that tells many stories, intertwined and layered, like this blanket”

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Album Published May 15, 2025

Shifting Sands | Rare Vintage Tuareg Rugs - 2023 (8 new items)

During 2023 London Design Week, Larusi presented a rare collection of vintage Tuareg mats handcrafted by nomadic tribes from across the Sahara desert, using reed and leather. Their understated geometric patterns make them a harmonious match for contemporary interiors and highly sought after by taste makers and design aficionados. 

Interiors photography by Michael Sinclair.  Styling by Alex Kristal.

Press coverage of Larusi exhibition:

Remodelista: Object Lessons: Tuareg Rugs. by Nell Card - June 2, 2023 

Salon Privé: London Design Festival: Explore Larusi’s Vintage Tuareg Rugs - September 2, 2023 

Design Anthology -15 - Shifting Sands 

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 15, 2025

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Content Published May 14, 2025

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Album Published May 14, 2025

Linen waffle towels

50 x 85 cm

Linen Waffle hand towels
Pre-washed 100% linen waffle textured towels made from premium European flax.


Available in Blue and Flax

 Was £32  inc. VAT
Sale price £16  inc. VAT

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Album Published May 14, 2025

2274BOU - Boucherouite rag rug

116 x 227 cm

Vintage Boucherouite rag rug

 Was £720  inc. VAT
Sale price £432  inc. VAT


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Album Published May 14, 2025

2250BOU - Boucherouite rag rug

95 x 222 cm

Vintage Boucherouite rag rug

 Was £600  inc. VAT
Sale price £300  inc. VAT


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Album Published May 14, 2025

2499BOU - boucherouite rag rug

124 x 230 cm

Vintage Boucherouite rag rug.


Was £750 inc. VAT
Sale price £375 inc. VAT

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Content Published May 14, 2025

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Album Published May 14, 2025

1628MA - Pile rug

140 x 190 cm

Vintage Berber Middle Atlas pile rug.

 Was £552  inc. VAT
Sale price £330  inc. VAT


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Album Published May 14, 2025

1144AZ - Pile Rug (3 new items)

121 x 266 cm

Vintage Berber Azilal pile rug.

Was £900  inc. VAT
Sale price £630  inc. VAT


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Album Published May 12, 2025

Wall Textiles Featured (1 new item)

Wall Textiles


Textiles offer a versatile and often economic way to add colour, texture and character to a room. They can be decorative as a focal point, used as a curtain, to hide wall defects or a distracting tv and to help absorb sound. Find inspiration exploring our carefully sourced African and Anatolian textiles and our vintage Moroccan Boucherouite rugs. Like the smaller Zindekhs, Boucherouite rugs are also made from recycled material. The results are often an exuberant colourful aesthetic with the textile scraps creating an interesting texture. Perfect for your walls as well as your floors.

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Album Published May 11, 2025

Interiors (20 new items)

Interiors


A small selection of interiors of our clients houses and commercial projects where Larusi rugs have been used to great effect in contemporary and traditional settings.

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Content Published May 11, 2025

Irenie-bedroom-1.jpg

London Islington: kids bed room with Berber pile rug by Larusi

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Content Published May 11, 2025

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Pink House: Beni Ouarain pile rug by Larusi

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Content Published May 11, 2025

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Aesop London: shop counter with Anatolian kilim by Larusi

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Album Published May 11, 2025

CS-240 - Cushion cover

40 x 60 cm

Rectangular: £78.00 inc. VAT

Vintage Anatolian cushion cover, made of hemp, cotton backing with zip

Colour: Mustard


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Content Published May 10, 2025

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On the Square

Collaboration with Irenie Studio

Read More 

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Content Published May 10, 2025

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Content Published May 10, 2025

On the Square

Origins


The history of Berber weavers


Read More 

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Album Published May 10, 2025

Marea wool throws

130 x 200 cm

Marea wool throws: 100% merino wool throws made in Italy, available in Forest Green and Charcoal.  Regular size only.

£156 inc. VAT


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Album Published May 10, 2025

TX119- Berber blanket

117 x 204 cm

Vintage Berber blanket


Natural undyed wool, with colourful knots in recycled yarns

£444 inc. VAT

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Album Published May 10, 2025

TX605-19 - Anatolian Textile

140 x 258 cm

Vintage Anatolian textile, can be used as a bedcover, wall hanging or curtain.

£420 inc. VAT


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Album Published May 10, 2025

TX605-6 - Anatolian textile

147 x 232 cm

Vintage Anatolian textile, can be used as a bedcover, wall hanging or curtain.

£420 inc. VAT


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Album Published May 10, 2025

TEX-162 - Bedcover

172 x 280 cm

Vintage Anatolian textured bed cover, made from premium lush wool.

£600 inc. VAT


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Content Published May 10, 2025

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Content Published May 10, 2025

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Content Published May 10, 2025

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Content Published May 10, 2025

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Album Published May 9, 2025

The World of Interiors - Happy Scraps: Souad Larusi showcases Zindekhs

Happy Scraps, by Ros Byam Shaw
Thanks to Souad Larusi, the woman who triggered the trend for Beni Ourain rugs, change could be underfoot for the indigent weavers.  Their tufted wares put a smile on Ros Byam Shaw's face

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Content Published May 9, 2025

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Content Published May 9, 2025

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Album Published May 9, 2025

The World of Interiors - Larusi Beni Ouarain rugs feature

Rough with the smooth - Deep-pile rugs would seem to hold little sway with the sleek, hard-edged aesthetic of the Modern Movement. But with their graphic-abstract patterns, the homespun creations of the Beni Ouarain tribe of Morocco indulged the underlying primitivist proclivities of all the modern masters. Jeremy Melvin explains

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Album Published May 8, 2025

Three (2 new items)

New in : Zindekhs


View Wall Art - Zindekhs 

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Album Published May 8, 2025

One (4 new items)

New in: pile rugs

View Pile rugs

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Album Published May 8, 2025

Terms & Conditions

Terms & Conditions of use



1. Ownership


Welcome to Larusi’s website. This website­ at URL www.larusi.com is owned and operated by Larusi Limited.
  Larusi Ltd is a retailer in rugs, textiles and homewares registered in England, Company No. 07110813. Registered office address: 10 Greville House, Lower Road, Harrow, HA2 0HB. Operating from Unit 18 The Dove Centre, 109 Bartholomew Rd, London NW5 2BJ. Vat no.: 981920007 Larusi ® is a Registered Trademark.


2. Use of the website


Access- By accessing the web site of Larusi you agree to these Terms and Conditions which apply to all online sales between Larusi Limited (Larusi/us/we/our) and the Customer (user/you/your) in relation to all sales of goods and services. You must not access our pages if you do not agree to all of these Terms and Conditions.
- Larusi reserves the right to revise the pages or withdraw access to them at any time.
- Larusi makes every effort to ensure that this website is free from viruses or defects. However, we cannot guarantee that your use of this website or any websites accessible through it won't cause damage to your computer. It is your responsibility to ensure that the right equipment is available to use the website and screen out anything that may damage it. Larusi will not be liable to any person for any loss or damage which may arise to computer equipment as a result of using this website.
- The dimensions indicated are approximate only. The specifications and descriptions of products on this website are not intended to be binding and are intended only to give a general description of the products. Please note that as computer displays do not always accurately reproduce the colour and texture of a rug or textile, the actual items may slightly differ from what you see on your screen.


3. Sales of products


- By placing an order via this website you are making an offer to Larusi to purchase the goods detailed in your order upon the terms described in your order. Once you have placed an order we will send you a confirmation that your order has been received but this is not a confirmation that your offer to purchase the goods has been accepted. A contract between you and Larusi for the sale of our products will only exist once an order has been accepted and processed. This does not affect your statutory rights. If you do not receive this email please contact info@larusi.com, so that we may investigate and confirm that your order has been placed successfully.
- We retain ownership of any products ordered until we have received full payment for such products.
- Prices and availability of goods are subject to change without notice. A delivery charge will be added to your order value where appropriate.
- We retain ownership of any products ordered until we have received full payment for such products.


4. Liability


- The contents of Larusi's web site are provided "as is". Larusi, its directors, employees, agents and suppliers shall not be liable for any loss or damage which may arise from the use of this website, or any of the information contained in any of the materials on this website, in any off-website or in any linked websites that Larusi's web site have a link to at present or have had at any time in the past.
Larusi reserves the right to modify the contents of the Service and terms and Conditions without prior notice. Should this happen the new Terms and Conditions are immediately effective and automatically supersede prior published information.


5. Trade mark and copyright



- Larusi ® is a Registered Trademark.
- The contents of Larusi's web site are the copyright of Larusi. All rights reserved. Reproduction, transfer, distribution or storage of part or all of the contents in any form without the prior written permission of Larusi is prohibited except for storing on your computer or printing copies of extracts from these pages for your personal use only.


6. Third party right and juridiction



- Third Party Rights: None of these Terms shall be enforceable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 by any third party.
- Applicable Law: English law governs these Terms. You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.


7. Data protection and cookies


- Larusi is a registered data controller in accordance with The General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (" GDPR "). We process your personal data in accordance with the GDPR. We will make sure that any information you provide on the website will be kept safe and secure.
- This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies to help this website analyse how users use the site. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser. You can manually remove cookies from your system. For more information on disabling and enabling cookies you should search for or lookup 'Cookies' in your Operating System Documentation. Please see our PRIVACY POLICY for full details.


8. Privacy Policy


GDPR: Larusi is committed to protecting your privacy and personal data; thus, in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, we have put measures in place to protect your personal data. Larusi only collects personal data essential for the purposes of its retail and sales activities and website optimisation. In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws, 'personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person and will be treated as confidential and securely stored.

Larusi collects your Personal Data when you order online on its website www.larusi.com. The Personal Data collected includes your first name, surname, billing and delivery addresses, email address and telephone number (your user account data) and transaction- and navigation data. 

Larusi will use this data to identify the customer/user to process orders and transactions made via the website. When you place an order or create an account with us, you, the customer/user, authorise Larusi to process your Personal Data in accordance with these Terms and Conditions generally and our Privacy Policy in particular. In placing an order online and/or creating an account the customer/user agrees to provide data that is true, accurate, current, complete and factually correct in all respects and to allow Larusi to collect and process your Personal Data, including your IP address.
The collection and processing of this information and your Personal Data allows Larusi to process, fulfil, ship and deliver your order(s) and allows Larusi to improve the user experience and conduct statistical analysis through Google Analytics. Your Personal Data is collected solely for internal use by Larusi and will not be transmitted to third parties other than to our online payment service provider, currently Stripe and WooCommerce who are subject to the same data protection legislation.

When signing up to our newsletter currently hosted by Mailchimp and though its portal we will seek your explicit consent, which can be withdrawn at any time by following the link provided at the bottom of each newsletter.



9. Provider's Access to Personal Data


The Personal Data used to identify the User will not be communicated to any third parties, except those that Larusi use to provide services. The third parties in question include selected service providers that carry out certain functions on Larusi's behalf, such as delivering orders, processing credit card payments, detecting and preventing fraud and hosting and developing the Website. Any such third parties and partners must also comply with the applicable data protection legislation and regulations.

Larusi may be required to disclose your Personal Data to third parties pursuant to a law, regulation or to comply with a decision made by a competent administrative regulatory or judicial authority. Your rights as a clients and website user: You can exercise your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation in relation to your Personal Data by contacting us on info@larusi.com or write to us: Studio 14, The Dove Centre, 109 Bartholomew Road, London NW5 2BJ.
  • Right to be forgotten: You may terminate your account at any time, in which case we will permanently delete your account and all data associated with it


  • Right to object: You may opt out of inclusion of your data in our data science projects simply by changing the Privacy Setting on your account.
    • 

  • Right to rectification: You may access and update your account settings at any time to correct or complete your account information.
    • 

  • Right of access: Our Privacy Policy describes what data we collect and how we use it. If you have specific questions about particular data, you can contact us via the contact details given above.

  • 
Right of portability: We will export your account data to a third party at any time upon your request

In the event of a dispute or disagreement, you can contact or lodge a complaint with The Information Commissioner's Office: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

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Album Published May 7, 2025

Two (1 new item)

On The Square x Larusi


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Content Published May 7, 2025

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Album Published May 7, 2025

On The Square x Larusi - 2025

Collaboration with On The Square

Every house holds secrets, but 'On The Square' is a home designed to reveal them! Through hidden spaces, shifting light, and unexpected details, this Neo Jacobean Grade II house on East London’s De Beauvoir Square plays with perception, inviting discovery at every turn. Restored and brought to life by Irenie Studio, Larusi was delighted to be selected as one of the designers, artists and contemporary craft makers to collaborate on furnishing the interiors. Larusi provided vintage rugs and wall hangings for various spaces in the house.
Souad also collaborated, along with other designers - the Tweed Project, Tracy Neuls, Ally Capellino and Irenie Studio on a blanket as an act of co-creation with Irenie.  Souad’s aim was to engage with and add to the ‘canvas’ of the blanket, through a process of layering, stitching and knotting, enhancing the weave’s haptic qualities; she gathered materials from previous projects, scraps left over and yarns stumbled upon wherever she happens to find herself, in London, Paris, Istanbul or Marrakech. Colour, a most important element, is added as a field of patches and knots on the perimeter/selvedge of the blanket presenting itself at the foot of the bed when draped over. “I wanted this edit of a beautifully crafted textile to reflect the spirt of the house On the Square, a home that tells many stories, intertwined and layered, like this blanket”

Share
Album Published May 7, 2025

Waste Knot – The Art Of The Zindekh exhibition 2019 (4 new items)

Exhibition at Larusi  - January 2019

Our new studio space was launched with an exhibition of Zindekh mats. The exhibition was very well received and announced with a feature in the World of Interiors by Ros Byam Shaw introducing these unique pieces to the UK.

Press coverage of the exhibition:

World of Interiors - Feb 2019 
More or Less: Zindekhs featured 
Corriere de la Serra: Living - Feb 2019 

World of Interiors 


Happy Scraps, by Ros Byam Shaw

From blue plastic sacking to bits of old twine, anything and everything can be turned into a zindekh to zhoosh up a dimly lit mud house in Morocco's Middle Atlas mountains. But for the dwindling band of Berbers who still make them, these joyous mats are not only an exercise in frugality and recycling - they're often a lifeline too. Now, thanks to Souad Larusi, the woman who triggered the trend for Beni Ourain rugs, change could be underfoot for the indigent weavers. Their tufted wares put a smile on Ros Byam Shaw's face.

Twenty years ago, Souad Larusi single-handedly sparked a fashion for a particular style of Moroc­can rugs. Though a native of the country herself, born and brought up in Fez, she first spotted them in books belonging to her hus­band, a Dutch architect, in old photographs of the interiors of sem­inal Modernist houses. 'I had never seen them for sale in Morocco,' she says. 'And I have no idea how architects like Alvar Aalto or Le Corbusier got hold of them.' Thickly tufted, monochrome and with simple, irregular patterns of dark often zigzag lines on pale creamy backgrounds, the rugs were made as dowries, and most stayed in the remote mountain villages where they were hand­woven by the women of the Beni Ourain tribe ( Wol March 2003 ).

Souad decided they were what she wanted to insulate the wood­en floors of the Victorian house in north London she and her hus­band had just bought. She set about find­ing them, visiting village markets in the Middle Atlas mountains, until she stum­bled across someone who could source them. She bought enough rugs for her own house, and more, and decided to see if she could sell them back in London. Her business, Larusi, has since become well known for authentic vintage and bespoke Berber rugs, and more recently for other textiles with a handmade feel.

Souad has always sourced stock her­self, travelling, making contacts, forming friendships and paying fair prices. She can tell you the life stories of the Berber families she buys from. 'This man built his own house, not with traditional mud but with breezeblocks. These people had to move because their house was about to collapse. That beautiful 15-year-old girl left school, and now works as a maid. Sadly, most of the young people are leav­ing the mountain villages,' she says. 'Old skills and crafts are dying out.’
One of those dwindling skills is carpet weaving, another is the crafting of small mats, known as zindekhs. 'These are also made by women, nowa­days usually the older women,' says Souad. 'They use them as door mats, or folded up to sit on. Unlike traditional rugs made from valuable wool, these use rubbish - scraps of worn-out clothing, including underwear, unravelled jumpers, bits of string and plas­tic twine, packing materials - all hooked through a foundation of used plastic grain and flour sacks. You don't need a loom, just a special needle. Perhaps because they cost nothing to make except time, the patterns are inventive and spontaneous, and because the materials are modern, often synthetic, the colours are really bright, sometimes even neon or glittery.'

A traditional Beni Ourain rug is made from the finest, most lustrous wool, lovingly collected over months and years from sheep that graze high in the mountains. No dyes are used, and designs are handed down from one generation to the next. Zindekhs could not be more different. Free from the constraints of tradition, and with a· paintbox of modern chemical dyes with which to play, women indulge themselves with riots of cheerful colour and pat-tern. 'Their designs can reflect anything, from their moods and aspirations - the house they would like to live in - to motifs from the local environment,' says Souad. 'Sometimes you will see the domed outline of a mosque, sometimes stylised trees, rivers, flow­ers and animals. They might put in a hand of Fatima, as a charm against the evil eye. Or they may come up with something com­pletely abstract that looks like a modern painting.' While dowry rugs are sold only out of necessity- a drought some years ago forced farmers to raise cash to feed their animals, for example - these mats are not treated as such treasured pos­sessions. Souad found people willing to sell several at once. 'I have now collected about 30 of them, all completely different and orig­inal,' she says. 'I want to highlight their beauty, so I am displaying them in a selling exhibition. Used as wall hangings they look so contemporary. The women who make them may have had no education, or con­tact with the outside world, and yet they have this tremendous creativity. Zindekhs are a genuine, unselfconscious means of self-expression for them.' Made entirely from bits and pieces no one wants and ingeniously transformed into something useful and desirable, they are also brilliant examples of imaginative recycling. 'I am always fascinated by how materials are kept and reinvented in these remote villages,' says Souad. 'People will hang old plastic sacking across their doors, make it into shower curtains and cushion covers, or storage bags that they will hang on hooks on the wall. Necessity is the mother of invention. If you can't afford to buy things, you make them, and waste nothing,' she explains. 'My mother has this same attitude. She brought up six of us, supporting us by working as a mas­ter embroiderer, making wedding veils, ceremonial babouches, kaftans. Even now she never throws a piece of fabric away if she thinks she could make some­thing out of it, whether an old cushion or a worn-out apron. She has even made tote bags from the plastic packaging of my rugs.'

The Beni Ourain rugs that were Souad's first retail success have become such a popular interiors accessory that originals are now a rarity. And as so often happens when fashion gets a hold, the market has been flooded with copies. 'I walk round the medina in Marrakesh and see them everywhere,' says Souad. The quality is not good, and many have been treated with harmful chemicals.' 'Upcycling' is a more recent fashion, and also open to abuse. These bold, vivid splashes of what Souad evocatively calls 'chaotic beauty' are the genuine article. Like the rag rugs and patchwork quilts our ancestors used to make from clothes that were no longer wearable, they are a timely reminder that there are better things to do with rubbish than pile it up in holes in the ground, or let it wash into the sea ■  

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Album Published May 7, 2025

Pile Featured (1 new item)

PIle Rugs


For sheer warmth and tactile interest a pile Moroccan rug is unbeatable.

Larusi first made its reputation for authenticity and quality 25 years ago by sourcing vintage Beni Ourain pile rugs crafted by Berber women in the Atlas mountains, east of Souad’s home town Fez. Traditionally they are made from undyed sheep’s wool, hence the monochrome colour. These Berber rugs often featured in the Modernist homes designed by Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto. They are a timeless classic just as admired in homes today, but the high quality vintage rugs are increasingly hard to find.

Colourful pile rugs from the Azilal Berbers in the Middle Atlas are famous for their bold use of colour. They are characterised by abstract often asymmetrical patterns incorporating diamonds, triangles and zigzag motifs, each laden with symbolic significance.

Boucherouites (from the Arabic term 'bu sherwit' which translates as 'to scrap') are hard wearing rag rugs made from recycled materials and with a painterly use of shape and colour. The epitome of up-cycling, they instantly add personality and pizzazz to an interior.

To this day all additions to the Larusi collection are sourced and curated personally by Souad.

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