Balkan is a matt plain velvet of hemp loop pile, made in the house's Nepalese handcrafted quality — probably, by Pierre Frey's own admission, its most authentic material. The hemp gives the surface a dry, natural character that wool and silk cannot imitate, and the hand-work gives it its slight, honest irregularity. It is a rug reduced to fibre and craft, and it is all the stronger for the reduction.
