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Roussos Ceramics
CERAMICS
Greece
The Roussos family and their distinctive relationship to ceramics dates back to the early 1900s when their great grandfather made big jars to store water, oil and milk. However, the Second World War put a stop to it and only in 1987 did his son pick up the trade again. It started out as a hobby, experimenting with the old potter wheel that his father inherited him. But after his daughter Maria returned from art school and when he saw that his son Panajotes – aged 7 at the time – had gifted hands, he decided to turn the hobby into a family business again. Thanks to their ceramics’ impeccable quality, the Roussos have made a name for themselves reaching beyond their island across the Peloponnese and Aeolian Islands. Find out more about Roussos Ceramics and view the products
How it is made
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The workshop
Located in a small village on the Greek island of Kythira, the Roussos family works in a beautiful workshop, surrounded by tomato plants and sunflowers. It is a peaceful and comfortable place where you can see and feel their longstanding relationship with the art of pottery making.
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The clay
The Roussos import their clay from Greek’s northern region Thessaloniki, which is known for its outstanding quality. The clay is particularly fine and pure, which makes the ceramics robust and avoids easy breakage.
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Shaping the vessels
Panajotes shapes the vessels on his potter wheel. Since age 7 he has been trained by his father and spent significant time experimenting. He has since developed his own personal imprint and shapes a large range of vessels with a steady, skilful hand.
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Smoothing the vessels' surface
Gregoria smoothens out the surface of every single vessel with a natural sponge that comes from the island’s surrounding. Rising from the foam of the sea, Kythira is said to be the birthplace of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.
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Drying
The vessels are left to air-dry, in the wintertime for two weeks and in the summertime for a week. The climate on the island is typical Mediterranean with mild, rainy winters and hot, sunny summers.
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First firing
For two days the vessels are fired in the kiln at 1050°C. They now transform from a light grey to a pure white colour.
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Hand painting
Maria hand paints each vessel with delicate lines in different colours. Her background from art school is clearly apparent in her knowledge and experimentation with fire colours and her skilful hands.
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Glazing
Gregoria dips each vessel into a special recipe of glaze, consisting predominantly of liquid glass. As a result, each vessel takes on a white coating. The Rousso's secret glazing recipe makes their ceramics more resistant, protects the colours from fading and gives each of their pieces a beautiful glossy shine.
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Second firing
The vessels are fired a second time at 1050°C, which is when the liquid glass becomes translucid and the colours reappear. Maria's favourite moment is when she opens the kiln and you finally can see the finished pieces with their bright colours and shiny glaze.
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Karim Hadjab
TEXTILES
France
Paris based Karim Hadjab develops garments through experimental processes. The foundation is to use pieces that are already existing, either used or not, particularly French work clothing. His ally is nature: The sun, wind, earth, rain, insects, bacteria and microbes. With their help, Karim gives each garment a second life and transforms traditional work clothing into pieces of art. Find out more about Karim Hadjab and view the products
How it is made
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French Work Clothing
Before the rise of global markets and the outsourcing of production to other countries, many small ateliers in France were making functional and durable workers’ clothes. They produced specific styles of uniforms for certain jobs, mostly in indigo blue colour from which the distinction blue and white collar originates. It is the clothes from these ateliers that Karim acquires. He selects pieces dating from the beginning of the century until present today and carries particularly brands, such as AU MOLINEL.
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The Bogolan Technique
To transform the workers’ clothes into unique pieces of art, Karim travelled to Mali to learn the Bogolan technique. In Bambara, Bogolan means “made from mud”. It is a dyeing and printing technique that is entirely organic using plant leaves and iron rich mud found at the bottom of the Niger river.
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An Infusion of Leaves
To prepare the garment for mud dyeing it has to be soaked in an infusion of leaves from the n’gallama tree. This infusion acts as a natural dye and gives the cloth a deep saffron colour.
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Applying the Mud
The mud is carefully applied to each garment from the inside. The mudreacts with the natural dyes and through oxidization a rich black colour is produced. Mud has many medicinal and therapeutic uses and in Malian culture hunters or women after child birth wear Bogolan garments, as they are considered to protect from male volent forces.
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Letting Nature Work Its Magic
Once the mud is applied, the garments remain in the sun to “bake” for an entire day.To achieve a deep black colour, the garment is dipped into the boiled leaf concoction, coated with mud and baked in the sun several times. Sometimes this almost meditative process has to be repeated 7 times.
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The Finished Piece
Each garment on which Karim works has a history that is as important to him as the processes he uses to create a finished piece. He guards a fascination and respect for the garments he develops; giving old, unwanted, rejected, dejected, and rotten pieces a new life and value.
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Michèle Bernard
FRAMES
France
For more than 40 years, Michèle Bernard has been making frames in her Paris-based atelier close to the Luxembourg Gardens. She started out as an apprentice with a master framer from Switzerland. But after only three years, her talent and passion for framing led her to open her own workshop, only a few numbers down the street. Today, she counts amongst her clients eminent French museums, galleries, politicians and even movie stars. Find out more about Michèle Bernard and view the products
How it is made
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An atelier next to the Paris Luxembourg garden
Michèle Bernard opened her atelier over 40 years ago, when the neighbourhood was still a hub for artists and craftsmen. At the time, her street was bustling with tailors, framing workshops, shoemakers, pattern makers, hairdressers as well as cafes. Today, things are quieter. Thankfully, the Luxembourg garden offers plenty of distraction and Madame Bernard regularly visits their museum for which she also makes the frames.
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Choosing the materials
To bring out its vivid colours, Madame Bernard selects a black wooden frame and a rare, acid-free Italian paper as backdrop to frame the Maasaï necklace. The glass has anti-glare and UV protective properties, which not only allow reducing the reflection on the glass but also protects the necklace from being burnt by the sun and moonlight.
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Maasaï beading
Beadwork is an important element in Maasaï culture. The necklaces are worn according to the age and social status of an individual. Those of a higher social status wear more colourful beads. Unmarried females wear large flat beaded discs around their neck when dancing as a sign of grace and flexibility. And a woman getting married wears a very elaborate and heavily beaded neckpiece on her wedding day, and once married, she wears a long necklace with blue beads.
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Cutting the wood
As a first step to make the frame, Michèle Bernard cuts the wood at a 45-degree angle into the correct dimensions.
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Building the Frame
To connect the four wooden parts, she first glues the edges together and then staples them from the inside. This step requires particular concentration so as to precisely join the edges neatly together.
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Preparing the backdrop
Madame Bernard uses a shear from the 19th century to cut the Italian paper and carton that constitute the backdrop of the frame.
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Fixing the necklace
The necklace is fixed to the backdrop with tiny invisible nails, which are carefully inserted at different places through the pearls and the leather lining of the Maasaï necklace before being flattened on the back of the carton.
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Cutting the glass
Madame Bernard uses a Japanese glasscutter, which is one of the most accurate and precise ways to cut glass. It functions with petroleum and works even better than cutting with a diamond, which requires such a high degree of mastery that in most cases the result is not precise enough. She then thoroughly cleans the glass to ensure that no dust gets trapped inside the frame.
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Assembling the elements
After the glass is attentively cleaned, it is placed inside the frame. Madame Bernard adds another thin piece of wood to create a larger space between the frame and the backdrop and to make sure that the necklace does not touch the glass.
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Fixing the holder ring
To be able to hang this piece of art, Madame Bernard adds a ring on the back of the frame, which she places with care so that the frame hangs evenly on the wall.
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Finishing the back of the frame
With a hammer and small nails, Madame Bernard fixes the carton in the frame and to create a clean finishing, adds Kraft paper on the back of the entire frame. Now the piece just needs to find its place in a home or office space.
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Jacques Ferrand
LEATHER
France
Contrary to his family of French intellectuals, Jacques started working at age 16 and joined Les Compagnons, a philanthropic, professional society for leather craftsmen that exists in France since the Middle Ages. For eight years Jacques studied leatherwork, amongst other at Dior in Paris under Gianfranco Ferré. Once he became a compagnon, he worked at Louis Vuitton and later on moved to Florence to team up with one of the most renowned Florentine shoemakers. In 2003, Jacques decided to start his own atelier, counting amongst his clients Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent. Since 2007, he decided to also develop his own products and today he proudly presents his first creations for the home with Savadi Maison. Find out more about Jacques Ferrand and view the products
How it is made
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Jacques’ Atelier in Paris
In the heart of one of Paris’ oldest neighbourhoods, le Marais, the atelier from Jacques hides in the courtyard of a former monastery from the 14th century. Jacques works in the atelier since 2003. His Franco-Japanese girlfriend recently created a little outside garden for him.
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Selecting the leather
Jacques sources his leather from French and Italian tanneries that specialise in vegetable tanned leather. Before he starts working on an object, he carefully chooses the leather, striving to take the most beautiful part whilst at the same time creating as little unused leftovers as possible.
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Cutting the leather
He places the pattern on the leather and uses a hand cutter to get a straight, crisp line. This stage requires concentration and precision.
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Creating edges
To be able to plead the storage tray’s edges, Jacques lightly cuts into the leather and then reduces its thickness.
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Finishing the edges
The edges of the lamp are carved with a leather beveller, which allows rounding the edges and to give a three-dimensional appearance to a two-dimensional surface. The edges are then finished with sand paper to obtain a smooth, finished look.
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Punching Holes
To connect the four sides of the storage tray, Jacques punches holes into the leather endings. This step will allow inserting a leather band to hold the piece together.
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Embossing the Leather
To mark the collaboration, Jacques embosses the logo into the leather. For this, he uses an ambos, which compresses the leather and marks the Savadi Maison logo.
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Folding and connecting the leather
Where the marks have been made, the leather is folded upright and the leather band passed through the holes, making up the walls of the storage tray.
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Pairing of Leather
To harmonise the edges where the leather band meets, Jacques reduces the leather’s thickness. This is first done by the help of a specialised machine and then finished by hand.
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Spawning the leather
To prepare for the sewing the leather band to the walls of the storage tray, Jacques utilises a diamond chisel to stitch the marks. This tool allows creating holes that are clean and consistent.
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Sewing the leather
To finish, Jacques stitches the leather band and the walls of the storage tray together by hand. This last step allows connecting all parts of the storage tray and providing it with sturdiness.
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Potters of Ethiopia
POTTERY
Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s ancient and traditional craft of pottery making – dating back to the Aksumite empire (100 BC to 400 AD) – continues today at this workshop in Addis Abeba. The founders, Sara and Jacques, aim to empower disadvantaged pottery women to create contemporary handmade pottery collections that reflect the beauty, vitality and artistry of Ethiopia and become economically self-sufficient. Their socially responsible business model has earned it the distinction of being the first Ethiopian company to obtain highly coveted International Fair Trade Association membership. Find out more about Potters of Ethiopia and view the products
How it is made
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Preparing clay from a riverbed
Traditional Ethiopian pottery is made from three types of clay collected by hand from the riverbed. Once it is dried, it is pulverized with a big wooden pestle and then mixed with water to create a flexible paste that can be kneaded.
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Shaping the clay
In Ethiopia, most potters do not use a potter's wheel but rather a flat, round wooden plate, which serves as the bottom support for working the clay. The technique of building up the pot is by spiral coiling. The craftswoman rolls a thick sausage of prepared paste in her palms, and presses it in place, and then adds another, working her way up.
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Smoothing the Surface
When the wet body is finished, the craftswoman smoothes the surface with a small wet corncob, leather rag, or sherd of clay.
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Drying & Burnishing
Once the basic shape is created and dried in the sun for several hours, each piece is burnished. For this time consuming practice, the craftswomen rub the pottery with a smooth river stone to give it a smooth and shiny surface texture, making it more waterproof.
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Firing the clay
Right before firing, the craftswomen coat each piece in sesame oil and, once fired, cover them with dried eucalyptus leaves. This process gives the pottery its exceptional shiny black patina.
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Painting the pottery
As a final step, the craftswomen will paint the guinea fowl. Each white spot is placed manually with a thin wood stick as a paintbrush.
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Sabahar
Textiles
Ethiopia
Inspired by ancient Ethiopian weaving traditions, Sabahar creates exquisitely handmade textiles from locally sourced, natural cotton fibres. The company was founded in 2004 by Kathy Marshall, a Canadian by birth but a twenty-year veteran of Ethiopia. She and her team have dedicated themselves to preserving and celebrating Ethiopia's rich weaving tradition. All of Sabahar's products are entirely hand made – from the spinning of the thread to the weaving of the fabric – and the craftsmen's skills combined with a modern, fresh design result in the creation of unique, richly textured fabrics. Find out more about Sabahar and view the products
How it is made
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A Spacious, Airy Atelier
Situated in the middle of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia's bustling capital city, Sabahar's airy and spacious atelier is located in a haven of green. It is here that the weavers, spinners, dyers and finishers make the intricate hand-woven cotton and silk textiles.
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Spinning the Cotton
Cotton production has been a central component of rural and urban Ethiopian life for centuries. Sabahar uses cotton grown in lower elevation areas that is spun on drop spindles by their crafts(wo)men's talented hands. Hand spun cotton is very textured and soft and makes each product unique.
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Dyeing the Threads
Sabahar only uses environmentally friendly dyes for its cotton, such as coffee, onionskin, tea, safflower, marigold and cochineal. To further minimize its environmental footprint, Sabahar has also installed a sophisticated water recycling and purification system.
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Hand Weaving the Cotton
Hand weaving has been a way of life for centuries in Ethiopia and almost all textiles are still made on hand looms. The art of weaving is passed down from father to son, thus almost all weavers in Ethiopia are men. The techniques have not changed much for centuries but Sabahar has worked on introducing new patterns, colours and designs.
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A Rich Yet Dying Heritage
Sabahar works primarily with weavers from the Konso and Dorze ethnic groups that have the reputation of being the most skilled weavers. Generally, weavers remain a quite marginalized group and most still only work in the informal sector. As such, the art of weaving is disappearing as the newer generation is choosing to leave the trade.
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Finishing the Product
Two small yet dedicated teams of women ensure the finishing of each piece. One group of women make the fringes, a time-intensive process of twisting and knotting the end threads. And another group sews, cuts the ends of the fringes and quality checks each piece.
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la Soufflerie
GLASS
France
La Soufflerie is a family-owned studio workshop in Paris founded in 2007 by husband-and-wife-team Sebastian and Valentina Nobile – he’s a glassblower, she’s an artist. They have built an association of glass-blowers that use traditional tools and processes to preserve the ancestral art of glassblowing. All products are hand-blown from recycled glass and stand out for their durable, functional and unique characteristics. Find out more about La Soufflerie and view the products
How it is made
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An atelier in the heart of Paris
Tucked away in a small courtyard in Paris’ XV arrondissement, the team from la Soufflerie promotes the ancient tradition of glassblowing, which is craft dating back to the 2nd millennium BC.
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Recycling Glass
La Soufflerie strongly believes not only in preserving the art of glassblowing and its related know-how but also our planet. To this end, la Soufflerie only works with used glass and recycles it. When they want to create different colours, they add pigmented glass to the mix, which means that the glass itself is coloured instead of painted and no changes to the colour can occur over time.
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The Furnace
It is used to heat glass at extremely high temperatures. It contains three chambers: the first with the highest temperature is to melt the glass at around 1320°C, the second is used to reheat a piece in between steps of working it and the third is to slowly cool the glass.
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Blowing the Glass
After the glass is melted and gathered onto the end of a blowpipe – in much the same way that honey is picked up on a honey dipper – the craftsmen blow air through the pipe into the glass, creating a bubble. La Soufflerie’s skilled craftsmen are capable of shaping almost any vessel forms by rotating the pipe, swinging it and controlling the temperature of the piece while they blow.
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Reheating and Shaping the Glass
During the glass blowing, the craftsmen can gather more glass over that bubble to create a larger piece. To heat and reheat the glass to give it its intended shape, they use the glory hole, a small opening in the furnace that provides enough heat to keep the glass between 870 and 1 040°C.
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Hardening the Glass
Once the creation is done, it is placed back into the third chamber of the furnace to slowly cool it between 371 and 482°C over a period of a few hours to a few days, depending on the size of the pieces. This step is crucial, as it keeps the glass from cracking or shattering, making it resistant and durable.
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L'hirondelle
COOKING POTS
Japan
Based in the town of Tsubame, Japan, a renowned centre for outstanding metal work, the l'hirondelle team is specialised in casting and forging steel. It took them two years to develop the cooking pots, which are the world's first to be made of enamelled cast stainless steel. It involved over two thousand tests until they found the right formula and invented a new type of material called Naroi. Each pot takes more than a month to create. Thanks to l'hirondelle's ground-breaking technology rooted in traditional artisan techniques, Japan's national Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry selected the cooking pots as one of The Wonder 500™, a list that presents Japan's most outstanding products. Find out more about L'hirondelle and view the products
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Mantas Ezcaray
PLAIDS & PILLOWS
Spain
Mantas Ezcaray was founded by Cecilio Valgañón in Ezcaray, a small town in the La Rioja region of northern Spain, in 1930, when the region was still a center for master carders, shearers, dyers and weavers – a tradition and know-how preserved in the region since the 15th century. Today, Mantas Ezcaray is the last remaining manufacturer. Its traditional skills in washing and dying the wool and in the finish are passed on from one generation to the next. Currently the four sons of Cecilio Valgañón are leading the business and work with their sons and daughters to ensure continuity to weaving the best mohair and wool in the most natural way. Find out more about Mantas Ezcaray and view the products
How it is made
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The Town of Ezcaray
Ezcaray is a small town in the Upper Oja Valley in northern Spain. Surrounded by mountains, forests and abundant water, it has been a reference in the textile sector for centuries.
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The Angora Goat
Mohair is the wool from an angora goat and regarded as one of the most luxurious fibres in the world. It is characterized by and renowned for its outstanding smoothness, elasticity and durability; and its whiteness, glossy sheen and silkiness allow achieving vivid, bright colours.
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Spinning
After the angora goats are sheared, the wool goes through an initial was hand is then combed and transformed into the soft, luxurious mohair "top". It is then spun, first into thicker and then finer yarn. The quality of the end product largely depends on this step and Mantas Ezcaray has safeguarded traditional spinning methods, which give their mohair a unique exquisiteness.
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Cleaning
Once the wool is spun, it then goes through a cleaning, first in a cold bath, then in a hot bath from the waters of the clear river that runs alongside Mantas Ezcaray’s factory. The water in the region is perfect for textile cleaning and dyeing, which is one of the reasons there used to be many factories in the past.
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Dyeing
The yarn is hank dyed, which is a very time consuming process in which colour penetration is maximised by dipping the fibre several times for periods of 48 hours in the dye before fixing it through steam. This method allows the yarn not only to achieve more vivid, bright and rich colours but also to retain a softer, loftier feel.
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Air-Drying & Repose
The wool dries hanging on wooden sticks. The constant humidity of the Upper Oja Valley is good for the mohair and the slow natural process of air-drying adds to its quality. It then reposes before winding.
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Winding
To prepare the weaving of the mohair, it is first winded on bobbins. This step needs to be done slowly and with care so as not to disturb the sleeping fibres essential for the end product’s fluffy and cosiness.
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Warping & Tying
To make the mohair fabric, the yarn is warped, creating the lengthwise part of the fabric and the fringes, and then tied. Tying alone takes about two hours for one piece of fabric. If the crafts(wo)man makes a mistake during this step, the entire cloth needs to be undone, therefore, requiring incessant concentration and attention to every detail.
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Weaving
The master crafts(wo)men use pick a pick looms from the 18th century to weave the mohair. These looms are originally mechanic but Mantas Ezcaray reconverted them into manual looms in order to be able to make any texture and idea they have in mind.
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Quality control
To guarantee a perfect final mohair product, rigorous quality control is an essential step of the process. For example, if a yarn broke during weaving, it is manually repaired during quality control.
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Finishing
Each mohair piece is finished by brushing it with natural teasels. This is another step in the process that sets Mantas Ezcaray apart from almost all other producers, who use metal teasels. Working with natural teasels makes the process a lot more complicated but yields more refined results to raise the "nap". Records indicate that in ancient Egypt mohair cloth was combed with natural teasels for the cloth worn by the pharaohs.
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The Final Brush Stroke
To give them their fluffiness, the woven mohair is manually brushed, in line with traditions that go back to the 15th century. With extreme care, the crafts(wo)men gently coax the mohair to ease out tangle and create a soft and airy fabric.
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Kitengela Hot Glass
Glass
Kenya
Kitengela Hot Glass was founded by Anselm Croze in Kenya in the 1990s. After an apprenticeship in Holland in glassblowing and following his mother’s artistic inclinations, he built up a glass blowing studio from scratch. It is situated right next to Nairobi National Park and can be described as an enchanting fantasy world where wild animals meet the human passion for arts and crafts. Mosaic pathways take you from giant statues and glass art in the garden to dome-shaped workshops where glassblowers perform their magic. In Kenya but also across Africa, Kitengela's glassblowers are renowned for their skills and unique, handmade glassware, supplying the most exquisite lodges on the continent. Find out more about Kitengela Hot Glass and view the products
How it is made
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A Studio amidst Wild Animals and a Glass Wonderland
"Turn left at the Zebra's". This is how you find your way to Kitengela's studio, situated right next to the Nairobi National Park. The studio itself is located in a red-brick dome that has over 1000 glass-stars setin its ceiling, accurately mirroring the night-sky and is surrounded by a garden filled with sculptures and living designs.
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The Raw Glass
All glass that is used at Kitengela is recycled from factory-made glass, which makes it more challenging to work, as it was conceived for a machine, but contributes to a smaller environmental footprint. Plain scrap window glass, for example, is melted into a classic aqua.
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The Furnace
The name furnace derives from the Greek word fornax, which means oven. The furnace is used to heat glass at extremely high temperatures. It contains a tank of molten glass held at 1200°C. Supplementary heating is obtained from the 'glory hole' - a gas fired tube.
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Melting the Glass
The recyclable glass is put into a tank, a container that can withstand extreme temperatures, and the glass is melted at around 1200°C into a bright yellow hot mass. This is mostly done overnight so that the glass is ready in the morning when it has achieved the right texture and pliability.
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Dipping the Blowpipe
To prepare the actual step of blowing the glass, the glass blowers start by performing a dance of fire. Only then they dip the preheated tip of the blowpipe into the molten glass, which is "gathered" onto the end of the blowpipe in much the same way that honey is picked up on a honey dipper.
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Marvering the Glass
The glass is now rolled on the marver, which was traditionally a flat slab of marble, but today is more commonly a thick sheet of steel or other resistant material. This process forms a cool skin on the exterior of the molten glass blob, and shapes it.
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Blowing the Glass
Now the craftsmen can blow air through the pipe into the glass, creating a bubble. This step of inflating the glass is critical and requires finesse and precision to avoid deforming or bursting the bubble.
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Shaping the Glass
Once an air bubble forms inside the glass, it is finished inside a steel container that bears the distinct, round shape of the glass. Two glassblowers work together to perform this step, one blowing the glass and another holding the steel container.
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Switching sides
To prepare for the creation of the mouthpiece, the glass needs to be opened. As a first step, another smaller piece of glass is heated on a stainless steel rod - called a punty - and stuck onto the other side to grasp it.
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Cutting the Glass
Once the glass is securely attached to the punty, the glassblower utilises a knife-look alike tool to cut the glass and open it.
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Reheating the glass
To be able to shape the mouth piece, the craftsman reheats the glass for which he uses the glory hole, which keeps the glass above 1000°C.
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Shaping the Mouthpiece
To give it its rounded, delicate shape, the craftsman rolls the glass and shapes it at the same time with an iron tool whilst the glass is cooling down.
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Annealing the Glass
Once the creation is done, it is placed into an annealing oven to slowly cool the glass from 520°C to room temperature over a period of about 20 hours. This step is crucial, as it keeps the glass from cracking or shattering, making it resistant and durable.
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Diana Ferreira Ceramics
Ceramics
South Africa
Diana Ferreira is a Cape Town based ceramicist renown for her signature black clay ceramics. She has perfected the slip casting method, which lends itself particularly for creating complex ceramic shapes that cannot be made on a wheel. She started her career as a ceramicist around 10 years ago when she decided to turn her life around and quit her 20-year nursing career. She learned the slip casting method from her former boyfriend, who is one of the top persons in the field, and started experimenting with making glass and ceramics. Fond of the whole design process of a product, Diana has over the years made increasingly complex moulds that result in her refined and unique ceramic pieces. Find out more about Diana Ferreira Ceramics and view the products
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Aissa Dione Tissus
TEXTILES
Senegal
Due to her strong sense of design and unique fabric creations, Aissa Dione has collaborated with world-class interior designers, such as Jacques Grange and Christian Lacroix, and developed collections for the likes of Hermès and Fendi. Of French/Senegalese origin, she started her career as a painter but soon started out creating her innovative, hand-woven textiles as a result of offering help to a client redecorating his office. Today, 30 years later, she is one of Africa's most renowned luxury textile designers. She combines unique design, know-how and artisan craftsmanship to transform African grown cotton into a luxury product. Find out more about Aissa Dione Tissus and view the products
How it is made
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An Atelier Outside of Dakar
Situated in Rufisque, a small town 30km east from Dakar, the atelier provides space for a large variety of looms used by 100 weaving experts in the Manjack technique, which finds its origins in Guinea-Bissau.
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Cotton & Raffia
Abiding by her values of sourcing and producing locally, Aissa ensures that the cotton and raffia is 100% Senegalese and organically grown. It is collected and hand spun in southern Senegal. The raffia is a variant of a palm tree and its fibre is traditionally used for the weaving in West and Central Africa.
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Dyeing the Threads
Once they arrive at the workshop, Aissa’s dye specialist Mr Ndoya takes care of the cotton and raffia. With his wide knowledge about plants, he creates new colours everyday. He uses mud collected from the bottom of a lake in northern Senegal to create shades of brown, Haye trees for red and Ngagne plants for indigo.
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The Loom
To create broad pieces of hand woven cloth for her creations, Aissa had to develop her own looms because traditionally they were only around 20cm wide. In cooperation with Dakar’s Institute of Technology, she created looms that allowed weaving textiles with a width of 90cm to140cm.
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Weaving
Senegal boasts a long history of textile design and the weaving techniques used by Aissa's master weavers are virtually unique in the world today. The loom setup is straightforward and the weaver sits inside a simple four-pole timber frame with a warp stretching out in front of him.
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The Weaving Technique
The warp yarns are threaded through multiple sets of heddles that hang in front of the weaver. He controls the shed using his feet-alternating left-right-left to open the shed for each pass of the shuttle.
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Team Weaving
The most difficult part of this type of weaving stems from the fact that it requires two people, a Manjack master weaver and a so-called draw boy, who is positioned a few metres up and to the side of the warp. He operates a second set of multiple heddles, working in tandem and coordinating his movements with the master weaver. This technique allows creating elaborate and complex patterns.
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Hampson Woods
Wooden Boards
England
In 2002 Jonty Hampson decided to leave office life and do something with his hands. After restoring furniture for a while, he started making things from wood and then spent eight years as a carpenter, writer and photographer in London, Austin and New York. In 2010 he founded Hampson Woods with a desire to put beautiful timber into people’s homes that stand out for their practicality and simple elegance. He made his first works with timber foraged from his family's woodland in the Lake District and from a 200-year-old fallen London Plane in Russell Square. Find out more about Hampson Woods and view the products
How it is made
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Sourcing the Wood
Jonty sources the wood from a merchant selected based on his traditional and sustainable approach as well as from arborists in and around London who specialise in clearing the fallen giants of the city.
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Defining the Shape
Each raw wooden board that enters the workshop is assessed for knots, cracks and other natural blemishes to pick up a certain special figure or shade or curve in the grain to include in the board.
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Cutting the Wood
Jonty first marks out each board and other items made from the wood to minimise waste. He then carefully cuts out each board and puts wholes in the head of each piece.
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Shaping the Wood
Each piece is shaped with a beltsander and it is at this point it will start to come to life, as its form develops. This step in the process requires particular patience and attention in order to do justice to the beauty that lies within the finished piece – making every one different.
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Finish Sanding
Before the final step of the process, the board is sanded through many different grits of sandpaper, requiring the right amount of pressure until it is smooth and comfortable to hold.
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Oiling
After a careful look over, Jonty stamps the board and applies a wood balm made of natural oils and waxes to nourish the internal fibres and to bring the piece to life. New shades and subtle pleasing variations in colour appear bringing out in each piece its unique pattern.
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Helleo
SOAPS
Greece
After stumbling on an old handwritten soap recipe in 2010, Helleo founder Manos grew increasingly curious about the art of soap making. He eventually decided to drop his studies in England and returned to Crete to learn about the cold-process method. Working out of his grandfather's olive groves, Manos has been continuously exploring the immense benefits of Crete's rich varieties of herbs, honey and other natural ingredients for soap making. He studied their healing properties, usage in skin treatment and behavior in soap making. After three years of experimentation, he managed to create pure blends that preserve the soap's natural ingredients and healing properties… and Helleo was born. Find out more about Helleo and view the products
How it is made
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The Greek Island of Crete
Helleo originates in the island of Crete, Greece. Olive trees have been considered sacred there for over thousands of years, and some of the world's finest organic extra virgin olive oil is produced on the island.
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A Greek Family Affair
Helleo founder Manos and his family have cultivated olive trees for decades. With environmental awareness and respect for tradition, they cultivate their grandfather's olive groves in the region of Viannos, world known for its microclimate and exceptional olive oil.
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Cultivating Organic Olives
Every year, the olive groves are fertilized, pruned and ploughed to provide an organic, extra virgin olive oil of outstanding quality. The process is supervised and certified by the Cretan Inspection Institute for Organic Products.
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Harvesting the Olives
A centuries-old tradition, the harvest is a celebratory moment for all families in Crete. The olives are picked at the right time only by hands or mechanically, and milled on the same day at a temperature not exceeding 25°C, ensuring the best possible quality for the olive oil.
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Collecting Natural, Raw Ingredients
Helleo founder Manos works with like-minded local producers who provide him with local avocado oil, black beer, organic red wine, wild herbs and plants like aloe vera. His aunt, who is a beekeeper, supplies him with local honey thyme.
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Turning Ingredients into Oil
For many years, Manos studied the healing properties, use for skin treatment and behaviour in soap making of various ingredients. Thanks to his ever growing knowledge, he has been creating distinct blends, each with their own refined character and healing properties. Here, Manos cuts an aloe vera plant to extract its precious juice for the Prickly Pear and Aloe Vera soap.
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Blending the Oils
Once all ingredients for the soap are weighted and took air temperature, the oils are blended. Step by step, the ingredients are added. For the Chamomille Calendula soap, for example, he uses the highly antioxidant and anti-irritant chamomile, the healing and therapeutic calendula and the intensely moisturising and emollient avocado oil.
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The Cold Process Method
All soaps are cold processed, which allows retaining all the healing properties for the skin from each ingredient, as well as the natural glycerin, which is absent from manufactured soaps.
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Pouring
Once the blend is ready, it is poured into moulds to rest and harden. At the workshop, all work is carried out by hand, produced in small batches. Thanks to their use of 100% recyclable materials, the company has been able to sustain a zero waste policy.
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Cutting the Soaps
Once the blend has hardened, the blocks of soap are carefully cut by hand.
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Stamping
As a finish, each soap gets stamped with Helleo’s signature sign.
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Curing
Once cut and stamped, the soaps are placed on trays and cured in appropriate natural conditions for at least eight weeks. During this time the soaps cure and become gentle for the skin. The completion of curing is followed by laboratory tests to certify the soap’s safe use.
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Wrapping
The final touch is also done by hand, with Manos and his team carefully wrapping the soaps in recycled paper, with each piece of paper telling the unique story of the soap it is wrapping.
