Illulian, the Milanese maison renowned for its high-end handmade rugs, introduces Sonora, a new outdoor rug designed by Maria Cristina Design. The project marks a further step in Illulian's commitment to supporting emerging creative talent while extending its artisanal excellence into outdoor living.
© Illulian
Designed by Maria Emslie, founder of Maria Cristina Design, Sonora originates from Illulian's "Let's the Rug Begin!" initiative, launched in 2023 in collaboration with the Marangoni Fashion School of Miami. After winning the competition with the Paraiso project, the designer continues her collaboration with Illulian, developing a distinctive visual language that blends artistic research with refined craftsmanship.
Sonora is conceived as a textile artwork inspired by the Sonoran Desert, which stretches across the border between the United States and Mexico. The rug pays tribute to the silent strength and unexpected beauty of arid landscapes, translating endless horizons, sculptural forms and intense light into a graphic and tactile composition.
The design features a vertical layout animated by slender cacti and stylised plant forms set against a warm, sandy background. Nuanced shades of green interact with lighter, textured details, creating a subtle balance between chromatic contrast and material depth. Relief effects, achieved through variations in pile height and meticulous hand-finishing, give the rug a three-dimensional quality, while decorative fringes frame the composition and reinforce its artistic character.
With Sonora, Illulian demonstrates its expertise in creating high-end outdoor rugs that maintain the aesthetic and sensory richness typically associated with interior collections. Crafted from next-generation, high-performance synthetic fibres, the rug combines visual refinement with technical performance. It is resistant to weather conditions and UV rays, retains colour over time, and offers fire-retardant, stain-resistant and water-repellent properties, making it suitable for both residential and contract outdoor environments.
"Collaborations with emerging designers like Maria Cristina Design allow us to explore new creative territories while remaining deeply rooted in tradition," say Bendis and Davis Ronchetti Illulian, owners of the company. "Our outdoor rugs are designed to blur the boundary between interior and exterior spaces, bringing the same level of care, elegance and quality into open-air settings."
With Sonora, Illulian reinforces its vision of outdoor spaces as a natural extension of the home, where craftsmanship, design and performance coexist in perfect balance.
More information:
Illulian
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www.illulian.com
