To understand Tallira and what makes it so unique in the Australian market, it’s important to start at the very beginning. Because Tallira, or The Rug Collection as it was known when co-founder and director, Simon Robinson, started the business in 2007 - is so much more than beautiful handcrafted rugs and stylish sofas. It’s a business built on passion, authenticity and an innate understanding that when it comes to the world of interior design, trusting your instincts and relationships are imperative.
Tallira’s co-founder and director, Simon Robinson, found his way into the dynamic world of interiors while studying at university. Like many students, he worked slightly random odd jobs, one of which was in a warehouse for an independent wholesale rug company. Fascinated by the colour, texture, pattern and craftsmanship of rugs, as well as the international logistics and operations that go on behind the scenes, this random odd job eventually became his career. Over the next decade, he worked his way up through the business, eventually taking on a leading sales and purchasing role.
As is often the case when someone has drive and determination, and a natural gift for connecting with people and building lasting relationships, one thing leads to another. That one thing was an innocent chat with Yosi Tal in a corridor at Designex in 2007. Yosi, director of the well-known family business Designer Rugs, and Simon had known each other for years – compared to the rest of the world, the design industry in Australia is relatively small, the rug industry even more so.
“Our conversations had only ever really been in corridors,” recalls Simon. “You know, how’ve you been, how’s business, that sort of thing.” But this time, it was a little different. They got to talking about the gap they both saw in the market for rugs that catered to the needs of designers and retailers who wanted unique, quality pieces at a more affordable price point than full custom design with stock available locally. “We both said ‘we should do something together’.”
What began as a design-led wholesale rug business offering distinctive collections to leading retailers in Australia and expanding to the global market in 2013, has evolved into a well-respected rug - and now furniture - business. With thoughtfully designed showrooms in both Sydney and Melbourne, each of which is a reflection of their location and Tallira’s global influences, they now offer Australian designed rugs and a curated collection of furniture directly to interior designers and homeowners. For Simon, these two showrooms mark the natural evolution of the business, and almost twenty years later deliver on his original vision of making authentic, quality design accessible.
The majority of Tallira’s rug collections are designed by Simon with some input from his locally based team, together with a handful of trusted suppliers and manufacturers in India who have become far more than just anonymous parts of the supply chain.
“Having been in this industry for decades, and travelled to India over forty times, our suppliers and manufacturers have genuinely become friends,” says Simon when contemplating what it is that sets Tallira’s products apart. “Twelve years ago, my daughter, Allira, and I were invited to attend the wedding of one of our supply partner’s children in India. It was incredible to feel so welcomed.”
It’s this deeply personal connection with the makers and artisans who turn Tallira’s designs into richly tactile reality that make a Tallira product so much more than a decorative or functional interior design item. They’re beautifully and meticulously crafted, at the same time as being made from a foundation of genuine friendship and trust.
Long lasting relationships are also part of the culture within the Australian team. Many of the staff - from account managers and sales reps to head office management have been with Simon for many years. Together, they’ve collectively helped grow the business, moving from one showroom to the next as the company evolved, and developing meaningful relationships with each and every client.
After ten years of growth, Simon and Yosi took another leap of faith together and decided to add a paired back selection of furniture pieces into the mix. “I had spent years attending design trade fairs around the world and I’d seen so many furniture pieces by designers and makers from almost all corners of the globe,” says Simon. “When I saw this one particular sectional sofa at a global furniture fair in Cologne, I was instantly drawn to it and knew it would be perfect for the Australian market. It was sculptural yet laid back, and being sectional meant that it was adaptable for so many different interior situations.”
This one sofa set in motion the evolution of the business as well as being a catalyst for a name change. Anyone who has had the privilege of naming a person, pet, or a business knows just how challenging it can be to choose the right name. It’s one of the simplest, yet most important decisions many business owners make. For Simon and Yosi, the name Tallira, much like the business, developed organically.
While as a word, Tallira has no translatable meaning, it is symbolic of everything the business has always stood for: authenticity and family legacy. The Tal in Tallira represents the Tal family name, while Allira is the name of Robinson’s daughter. A celebration of two families and the shared values that underpin everything the business stands for.
While Simon and his team were hard at work expanding their furniture offering from that first sectional sofa to include a carefully selected range of tables and occasional chairs - pieces that would complement their rugs while still having a style of their own - something else was brewing on the other side of the world. It would alter everyone's lives in unimaginable ways: Covid-19
As cities and countries around the world entered into lockdown, people found themselves confined to their homes. Naturally, this meant that the interior design or pieces they had been living with for years which had gone unnoticed became ‘problems’ to solve. The desire of many to transform their homes into a retreat presented an unexpected silver lining in an otherwise challenging situation. However, the boom wasn’t entirely without its challenges. Supply chain disruptions caused widespread chaos, and lead times for many products stretched out by months.
However, Tallira experienced minimal disruption owing to the fact that Simon made a strategic business decision from the outset to always hold a large volume of stock locally. And, when murmurs of lockdowns started to filter through, he took a bold leap and ordered additional stock.
To this day, this means that even if a project has a tight timeline, every specified piece is available to be shipped from Tallira’s Melbourne warehouse within days rather than months.
Five years on, the Tallira evolution continues – and it’s perhaps best expressed by two new showrooms that together offer 1,200 square meters thoughtfully designed space in which to present curated vignettes of rugs and furniture. Designed in close collaboration with Emma Blomfield and her team at EB Studio, the two bespoke spaces which now anchor the business in Sydney and Melbourne have a distinct feel that responds authentically and thoughtfully to the buildings they’re each located in.
Located in part of the former Commonwealth Weaving Mills and Rosebery Engineworks, the Sydney space occupies 650 square meters of the historic Rosebery Engine Yards. With its original timber rafters, concrete floors and steel posts all carefully restored, the space gives each rug and furniture piece room to breathe, while taking visitors on a journey of texture, colour, pattern and local history.
In November 2025, eighteen months after the opening of the Rosebery showroom, the doors opened on an equally refined yet very different 550 square metre showroom in Melbourne’s Windsor Place. A new build on High Street, the showroom gave Simon and Emma a blank canvas to play with. Designed to be welcoming and enhance the nuanced details of each rug and furniture piece, the Melbourne showroom takes much of its inspiration from Simon’s international travels through Europe.
“It needed to reflect a level of detail and exceptional quality, while still feeling welcoming and Australian. You wouldn’t believe the amount of time we spent testing the wall colour and floor finish to make sure they complemented each other perfectly,” says Simon. The hand finished render on the walls, the curved arches, and the soft edges that inform most of the interior architecture are equally intentional. They make the space feel familiar yet elevated at the same time.
In both Sydney and Melbourne, what makes these two showrooms distinctly Tallira is the warm, friendly approachability balanced with expansive openness. Each rug, and each interior vignette encourage touching and feeling, providing interior design inspiration as well as an inviting place for account managers to sit down with their clients and help them with their projects in a genuine and relaxed way. This is why Tallira is the choice for those who understand that a rug is never just a rug - it's the foundation of a room, capable of bringing a space to life, changing the way a space feels and creating the perfect atmosphere. The curated furniture collection also proves that quality design and accessibility aren’t mutually exclusive when both stem from passion and great connections. Because in the design industry - in any industry- relationships are where legacy begins.
