Jamilla's Family Heirloom

This Women-Only Association is located in the Village of Anzal, about 30 kilometers north of the popular weaving town, Tazenakht. The Anzal collective was founded in 2007 and is kept alive by women passing the craft down through the generations. Saida, the President of the Association, is our liaison for all our custom orders.

We met the women of Anzal in 2019 on a special day for the Association. After sharing a small space with a men’s Association, the women were finally moving into a bigger space, just for them. The night before our visit, the women had blessed and celebrated the new space with a prayer and a meal of homemade couscous. We were the final visitors to purchase in the old space. The women of the Association told us that our visit answered their prayers for a successful start to their new journey.

Our Vintage pieces were usually made by grandmas or great aunts and then passed down through generations. Even when a family runs out of room or decides to sell an old rug, they’re bound to bring beauty to their next home.

Most vintage rugs you will find in local Moroccan markets are purchased by male brokers, who visit neighboring villages and buy up all the pieces they can in one transaction.

Our process is different, as we work directly with the women selling these heirloom rug pieces. We visit their homes and neighborhoods to see the pieces in-person and negotiate face-to-face.

One telltale way to spot vintage rugs is by their odd shapes, as they may have been made to fit into old buildings, or specific spaces generations ago.