Flatweave
Any woven textile without pile. Flat, reversible, lighter than a pile rug of the same size. Made from a single decision repeated thousands of times.
Definition
Flatweave is the broader category; kilim is one specific flatweave structure. All kilims are flatweaves, but not all flatweaves are kilims. Other flatweave structures include soumak (a wrapped weft technique that creates a slightly ridged surface), tapestry weave, and warp-faced weaves where the warp dominates the surface.
Most Moroccan Amazigh flatweaves fall within the kilim family, but flatweave is the useful umbrella term when discussing construction generally, especially when comparing to pile-knotted rugs or boucherouitte.
Why it matters for buying
Understanding that a rug is a flatweave tells you immediately it has no pile, is reversible, is lighter than a pile rug of the same size, and behaves differently underfoot and acoustically.
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