Fair Fabrics plaid for NRC

Photo: Geert van Hertum. Photo in the background: Lenny Oosterwijk in Gallery Untitled, Rotterdam

Our beautiful hand-woven, woolen plaids will be exclusively for sale at NRC webshop from today.

Click here to go directly to the NRC webshop.

A wonderfully thick, soft and woolen plaid, for on the couch or over the foot of the bed. We designed this plaid exclusively for the readers of NRC and had it made in three different colours; dark blue, gray and red.

The Fair Fabrics plaid is available in the colors dark blue, gray and red. Photo: Geert van Hertum

The plaids are handwoven, for a fair price, by a medium-sized weaving cooperative in central Morocco. The weavers have many years of weaving experience and only use high-quality materials. They work together on the growth and professionalization of their organization. In addition, they support homeless people and problem young people from the immediate vicinity through their own studio. They offer these people a new future perspective by learning a trade.

One of the weavers in the artisan workshop in Morocco.

All plaids were sent to the Netherlands and individually packed in boxes at Onze Zaak and provided with a card with information about the makers. Onze Zaak is a special company where they help people with intellectual disabilities and who are at a distance from the labor market to find daily work. One of them is Ahlam. We share a love for Morocco and Moroccan cuisine in particular turned out to be a great topic for discussion. Before we knew it, 3 full, high pallets with plaids had been packed for NRC!

Packing up with Ahlam and chatting about a common love: Morocco

Size: 130 x 180 cm
Price: €119.00
Available in three colours: dark blue/white, grey/white and red/white
Material: wool (95%) on organic cotton (5%)

Photo: Geert van Hertum

Photo: Geert van Hertum, Location: Gallery Untitles, Rotterdam

Photo: Geert van Hertum

10 years of impact

We can hardly believe it ourselves, Fair Fabrics turned 10 today!

The first visit to a weaving cooperative in the Moroccan Atlas mountains has been the great start of realizing our dreams; growing together in entrepreneurship by stimulating the local economy in our production countries in a fair way.

This image of Khadouj was taken during the first visit to the Moroccan Atlas Mountains (2011).

It didn’t all go smoothly, but that’s not what we do it for either. The most important thing is that we make as much impact as possible. We want to build a lasting bond with the makers. For example, we develop new interior products, the studios produce at a fair price and we help the makers in the field of entrepreneurship and professionalization.

Designer Willemiek is weaving together with ‘mama’ and in the meantime also shows her own ideas on the loom (2018).

Language and cultural differences make international business extra adventurous. That sometimes means that you don’t necessarily solve complicated dilemmas in the most businesslike way, but that’s why we are a social enterprise; profit is not an end in itself, but a means to achieve our mission.

While we visit the various cooperatives, we are often welcomed with open arms at home by the weavers, which takes us to the most remote but very special places (2014).

And yes, we also have many ups and downs. We will spare you, much rather we look to the future where there is still a lot of fair profit to be made. In the coming period we will try to be an even greater stable factor for many of our workshops, which do not have an easy time under the circumstances of Covid-19, among others. Many studios have hardly any income with the loss of tourism, so our mission is perhaps even more current than 10 years ago.

This seems like a route to the end of the world, but this is the kilometre-long road to one of our fine cooperatives in the deep mountains (2014).

There are many beautiful projects in the pipeline and actually do not even have the time to dwell on this beautiful milestone.

We would like to celebrate our anniversary together, which is why we have come up with various beautiful and appropriate promotions during our anniversary year. November 1st we will start with the very first anniversary promotion of 10 years of Fair Fabrics. More coming soon!

Most weavers’ living rooms are often at least as colorful as the rugs they weave (2013).

Moncef and Karin in Tunis after a conversation with Tunisian designer Chamseddine (2016).

The very first professional photo shoot with photographer Geert (2014).

A couscous meal together with the family of the ‘president’ of the cooperative (2015)

Geert in action photographing a rug for a customer order (2021).

Founder of Fair Fabrics, Karin. Photographer: Kate Lewis for TBE (2018).

10 years, 100 years

Fair Fabrics will soon be 10 years old, really! We are extremely proud to have reached this milestone. Despite all the recent challenges surrounding Covid-19, but also at a time when we are short of hands to actually be able to celebrate properly. Of course we have some fun moments planned, so more stories and more festivities are coming soon!

Morocco, October 2011. This photo was taken 10 years ago, during the very first artisan workshop visit.

What many probably do not know is that we have drawn up our philosophy based on a number of core values ​​that arise from the volunteer work that Karin has performed for the Melania (Ontwikkelingssamenwerking) Development Cooperation Foundation for a few years. This foundation is committed to gender equality and to improving the economic position of (underprivileged) women in Asia, Africa and Latin America, so that they can build an independent existence. Melania does this by financing small-scale income-generating projects, from a transparent and effective organization with committed and expert employees. Here in the Netherlands they are building a community of socially involved women who donate money to realize the projects.

Nepal 2006. Women of Melania’s sewing machine project proudly show Karin how their business got off to a successful start thanks to Melania’s project financing.

Working with existing initiatives and cooperatives, making the connection between the different worlds, immersing yourself in the different culture with sometimes complex circumstances, but also the drive of women’s groups within a local community have been well-considered choices for Karin to set up her social enterprise Fair Fabrics as it is now.

The portrait of Melania founder Caroline Theresia Maria van Rijckevorsel, a nurse, who traveled with her husband to the Dutch East Indies in 1921 at the age of 25 to dedicate herself to the ‘upliftment of the native woman’, has been recorded in a jubilee book. On October 10, the 100th anniversary of Melania will be celebrated in Utrecht with workshops and lectures. A total of ten women’s portraits are included in the book, of which 1 is about Karin from Fair Fabrics. What an honor!!

The booklet was written and compiled by Ceciel Bruin-Mosch, Caro van den Acker, Eliane Bavinck and Tanja Beekman. The booklet can be ordered from the better bookshops, ISBN: 9789403639468.

Melania also organizes an (online) auction where the proceeds fully accrue to Melania. Various social entrepreneurs have donated products, such as Yoni with a set of organic sanitary towels, Karen Kammeraat with her book ‘Just Good’ and of course Fair Fabrics with a hand-woven cushion set. Link to auction: https://melania.nl/15824-2/

Nepal, August 2006. Karin was not only warmly and hospitably received, but also fully dressed by the ladies of Melania’s sewing machine project. The women had to get used to those extra long meters of fabric.

Handwoven wool rug

This Saturday, our latest rug will appear in the NRC’s living special. Fair Fabrics developed this rug on behalf of the NRC and had it made in a numbered edition. The rugs are traditionally woven by a coalition of 5 smaller weaving workshops, located in the Tunisian mountains. The design was created by the Dutch designer Willemiek van Kuijlenborg in collaboration with the artisan workshops.

The rug is available in the sizes ‘medium’ and ‘large’. Photo: Geert van Hertum

Rugs are the mood makers in the house and offer a lot of extra comfort. They improve the acoustics, personalize the interior and insulate in both winter and summer. The unique properties of wool ensure that it adapts to different conditions. Wool has the ability to provide wonderful warmth when it is cold and cool when it is hot, while still breathing. Rugs are very nice for the layout of the living space. You can break a large room with it, while a small room with a rug gets depth and thus appears larger.

Photo: Geert van Hertum

The weavers’ years of experience ensure tight weaving, creating a high-quality rug for years of enjoyment. All rugs are exclusive, in a numbered edition, available at the NRC webshop and provided with a label with the name of the maker.

Photo: Anis Gueddich

Tunisia has gone through a turbulent time with, among other things, the highest Covid-19 infection rates of the entire African continent, but they are also currently in the middle of political unrest. The income of many artisans has completely disappeared. With this special collaboration between NRC webshop and Fair Fabrics, the 5 small weaving cooperatives in Tunisia were each provided with work for 3 months at a fair price. All cooperatives from the coalition are now working together on the growth and professionalization of their trade workshops.

Photo: Geert van Hertum

Handmade products sometimes have a small flaw, the charm of authentic products, which also makes them easy to distinguish from perfectly made, often cheaper copies. Each rug is unique, because although the working drawings are standard, we work with natural products and not with machines. Colors, patterns and dimensions may therefore differ very slightly. A maintenance card is supplied with the rug.

Photo: Geert van Hertum

Size: 140 x 200 cm
Material: wool (90%) on cotton
Price: € 649.00

Size: 170 x 240 cm
Material: wool (90%) on cotton
Price: € 849.00

Photo: Geert van Hertum

Increase in scale and social impact

If an average rug takes about 3 weeks to weave, you can imagine that the production of a few dozen rugs will take some time. If you want to make more impact, scaling up can help. How to handle? And how do you maintain personal contact and direct involvement with the artisans?

We have the express wish to work as much as possible with small workshops, because that is where we can make the most impact. The families, and sometimes also the immediate environment, all benefit from the income of the weaving workshops where mainly women work. In addition to their work in the craft workshops, they keep the family going. Most workshops are not located in the big tourist cities but in rural mountain areas that are sometimes difficult to reach due to bad roads and extreme weather conditions.

Photocredits: Moncef Ben Rejeb

In order to meet the demands of our customers and to maintain our core values, we recently started local collaborations between several trade workshops. That means jointly purchasing wool and distributing it over the various workshops and thus achieving a larger production together.

Photocredits: Moncef Ben Rejeb

All workshops work in their own way and that is why intensive consultation and coordination are now taking place between the workshops. Just as special as we think it is that we go through the production process together with all 5 workshops, it offers the cooperatives so many opportunities to grow, learn from each other and further professionalize.

Photocredits: Jenae Somedays for TBE, all rights reserved

Fair Fabrics rug and cushion set exclusively at NRC

Commissioned by our client NRC, we designed a rug and cushion set and had it made in two specialist workshops in respectively Tunisia and Morocco. Both products are made in a small, numbered edition and are exclusively for sale in the NRC webwinkel from Saturday 29 May.

Would you also like to have an article made by Fair Fabrics? Check out our “corporate” page or click here.

     

The rugs are handcrafted by the members of a women’s cooperative in a small mountain village in northern Tunisia. The weavers’ many years of experience ensures tight weaving, creating a rug of high quality. All affiliated women are now working together on the growth and professionalization of their studio. All rugs are provided with a label with the name of the maker.

Rugs create the atmosphere in the house and offer a lot of extra comfort. They improve the acoustics, make the interior personal and insulate in both summer and winter. This specific pattern has already been used for another rug. Especially for the NRC, Fair Fabrics had the rug made in a different color composition in a handy format, so that it fits in several places in the house.

Photo: Geert van Hertum – Location: Gallery Untitled, Rotterdam

The combination of old techniques with this contemporary pattern gives your interior a pleasant atmosphere and is a real eye-catcher. Rugs are very nice for the layout of your living space. You can break a large space with it, while a small space with a rug gets depth and thus appears larger.

The cushions are handmade by a weaving cooperative in Central Morocco. The cooperative supports homeless and problem youth from the immediate vicinity through its own studio. By learning a trade, they offer these people a new perspective for the future. The weavers have years of weaving experience and only use high-quality materials. All cushion covers are labeled with the maker’s name and uniquely numbered.

With new cushions you can personalize your interior in a stylish way with a small gesture. The designer has made a combination of traditional technology and local craftsmanship, in a contemporary design. The cushions each have their own design and together form a tasteful whole. They are lined on the inside and have a double zipper at the back.

Both articles were developed in collaboration with the Dutch designer Willemiek van Kuijlenborg.

Photo: Geert van Hertum – Location: Gallery Untitled, Rotterdam – Chair: Floris Hovers

Link to the rugs, link to the cushions

We took some of the above photos in Gallery Untitled in Rotterdam.

The white chair in the photos is by the Dutch designer Floris Hovers, from the SOO furniture collection.

For the packaging we have used recycled tubes from SCRAP XL.

Our logistics processes are carried out by Onze Zaak, a sheltered workplace that helps people with intellectual disabilities and people at a distance from the labor market find daily work. https://www.onze-zaak.org

Would you also like to have an article made by Fair Fabrics? Check out our “corporate” page or click here.

Photo: Geert van Hertum – Location: Gallery Untitled, Rotterdam – Chair: Floris Hovers

Photo: Geert van Hertum

Photo: Geert van Hertum – Location: Gallery Untitled, Rotterdam