The ohmygood gift card can also be used to pay at Fair Fabrics. The gift card is available at Albert Heijn, among others.
Listen to the language of the rug during the Salt Meet Up on June 4 in Rotterdam.
Our founder Karin Kandt-Reinders has been named as one of the top 100 women in social entrepreneurship and social innovation in Europe by the Euclid Network.
Fair Fabrics had a wool rug made exclusively for 1 of its customers in a limited and uniquely numbered edition. The runner is …
The Rotterdam artist Jolanda Linssen has designed a beautiful tapestry of no less than 5.5 meters high! For the realization, she sought cooperation with Fair Fabrics. The tapestry was recently officially unveiled in primary school IKC De Lis in Rotterdam and was made possible in part by Stichting Droom en Daad.
We are proud! Commissioned by NRC, we have been able to develop an exclusive set of linen napkins and have them embroidered by hand in one of our workshops in Tunisia.
The napkins are made of supernumerary linen and silk yarn from the European high fashion industry and are temporarily available from NRC webshop in a numbered, limited edition.
The embroidery workshop where these napkins are made is located in eastern Tunisia, where embroidery has traditionally been very important. Najib learned the craft from his parents and started his own studio a few years ago. There are currently 5 women working in the studio, whom he has trained as a professional embroiderer. Najib would like to preserve the craft for the next generation and is therefore happy that younger women also work in his studio.
Najib, sister Zehra and the artisan embroiderers.
In the Netherlands, all napkins are sorted, provided with a wrapper and neatly packed by Monique and Lucy van Onze Zaak. Onze Zaak is a protected workplace for employees with a mental, psychological and physical disability.
Monique and Lucy from Onze Zaak
For example, we are working on an increasingly accurate chain, in which we not only pay attention to working conditions, but also consider an inclusive field of work, recycling and upcyling of materials and sustainable logistics solutions.
But let’s not forget that, of course, the napkins turned out beautiful. They are made of supple and soft linen and each has a warm color as a base, on which a very subtle interplay of lines has been embroidered by hand. The yarns are made of silk, cotton and viscose and, like the linen, come from surplus stocks from the European high fashion industry. Top-quality materials that remained in the warehouses because the color just didn’t match, designs or entire collections were changed after ordering the fabric or have expired, but also simply because too much was ordered from the weaving mills.
Image: Mathijs Labadie
Image: Mathijs Labadie
Tunisia has gone through a turbulent time with, among other things, the highest Covid-19 infection rates of the entire African continent, but also national and international political unrest. The income of many trade studios has often been lost due to the recent economic downturn. With this special collaboration between NRC webshop and Fair Fabrics, Najib’s embroidery cooperative was provided with work for 1.5 months at a fair price, napkins with a beautiful impact.
Image: Mathijs Labadie
This product is exclusively available at the NRC webshop
Each set consists of 6 napkins in 2 different colours. There are 2 different color sets available: black & olive yellow and black & warm anthracite.
Colours: black, olive yellow and warm anthracite
Image: Mathijs Labadie
Image: Mathijs Labadie
Image: Najib
On Friday December 2, Fair Fabrics will give a workshop where you can design your own rug.
The workshop starts with a short introduction about the makers; the workshops in the various countries with which Fair Fabrics has been working for years, in Morocco and Tunisia, among others. We zoom in further on the different techniques, patterns and colors. Then we get to work ourselves, based on the sample rugs and colors of wool that we have brought with us.
The aim of the workshop is to gain more insight into the possibilities within the traditional techniques and designs used and to combine this with one’s own wishes. Afterwards you will also have more knowledge about an age-old craft that is passed on from generation to generation.
After the workshop it is possible to have your own design for a floor or wall hanging made by one of our weaving mills. (read more about having a rug made here)
Location: Studio Voor Goed
Address: Lijnbaan 117
Time: 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Bring your own: colored pencils (minimum 10 colors)
Maximum number of participants: 10 people
Sign up: Eventbrite
Exclusively for NRC readers, Fair Fabrics has designed floor rugs and wall hangings and had it woven according to traditional methods in its Tunisian artisan workshops. The rugs are made with natural wool colors and are temporarily available from NRC in a numbered, limited edition. Both designs have been created in close collaboration with the weavers, based on what they make traditionally.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Insulation
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 combination of old techniques with this contemporary pattern gives your interior a special atmosphere. Rugs are 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: Mathijs Labadie
Craft
The rugs are traditionally woven with a natural color palette by a coalition of 4 smaller Tunisian craft workshops. The weavers’ years of experience ensure tight weaving, resulting in a high-quality rug that you will enjoy for years to come. All cooperatives from the coalition are now working together on the growth and professionalization of their craft workshops.
Exclusively at NRC
All rugs are exclusively for NRC readers, available in a numbered edition and provided with a label with the name of the maker.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
The rug is available in the sizes 140×200 cm and 170×240 cm.
This product is exclusively available at the NRC webshop
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Unique Fair Fabrics wall hanging
In addition to the rug, Fair Fabrics has also designed a tapestry and had it woven according to traditional methods in our Tunisian craft workshops. The rugs are made of undyed wool and are exclusively available in a numbered edition in the NRC webshop. The special design was created in collaboration with the weavers, based on what they traditionally make.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Acoustics
Wall hangings are completely contemporary, they improve the acoustics and make the interior special and personal. Because they are all made by hand, each one is unique. You can see the hand of the maker in a landscape of combined knotting and weaving.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
Exclusively at NRC
All wall hangings are exclusively for NRC readers, available in a numbered edition and provided with a label with the name of the maker.
Photo: Mathijs Labadie
The wall hanging is available in 50 x 70 cm and 70 x 100 cm.
This product is exclusively available at the NRC webshop.
Tunisia
Tunisia has gone through a turbulent time with, among other things, the highest Covid-19 infection rates of the entire African continent, but also national and international political unrest. The income of many trade studios has often been lost due to the recent economic downturn. With this special collaboration between NRC webshop and Fair Fabrics, the weaving cooperative in Tunisia was provided with work for 4 months at a fair price, a tapestry with impact!
Look here if you want to have a rug made to measure.
The beautiful photo location is a design by Sander Mirck van Mirck Architecture that won the Daylight Award in 2021.
Usually we share good news, because it is of course nice to tell about. Although there is undoubtedly a lot happening behind the scenes, that’s less fun, last Friday’s incident was one of our deepest lows. One of our Moroccan weaving cooperatives has completely burned down.
When we first met 7 years ago, there were about 40 people working, now there are 700. The cooperative is located in a small rural community in Central Morocco. Almost every family within this community is connected to the weaving cooperative through one or more family members. Meaning that this disaster affects the entire community, who now have no income.
In addition, the cooperative supports homeless people and problem young people from the immediate vicinity through its own workshop. They offer these people a new future perspective by learning a trade.
Fortunately, they are brave and powerful. The whole village is helping to clean the weaving cooperative, so that they can start rebuilding soon. But they have to start all over again. All weaving looms have been lost, including the wool stock, the complete presentation room, the office, etc.
You can make a donation
to financially support the cooperative
in its reconstruction.
Please contact us so that we can transfer 100% of your donation to the cooperative.
In recent years they have made several products for Fair Fabrics, including cushion covers. We generally do not have any stock of products, as we only produce on demand. Often our producers make spare or extra products, in the end we buy them from them so that they do not get stuck with them. At the moment we have two different cushion sets available from this special Moroccan cooperative for sale in our web shop.
Naturally, we contribute directly to the construction. In addition, we want to donate a substantial part of each cushion set sold directly to our cooperative.
Cushion cover set 1: donation to the cooperative € 37,50. (sales price € 75 in. VAT)
Cushion cover set 2: donation to the cooperative € 50. (sales price € 99 in. VAT)
The shipping costs are for our account.
While stocks last.
Last May Fair Fabrics presented its latest project ‘The Language of Weaving’ during OBJECT Rotterdam.
Forms of language
With the project ‘ The language of weaving’ we want to investigate whether we can find a suitable way to connect even better between end-user and artisan. By providing more insight into these forms of language, we remove boundaries, and can better read and understand cultural identity. The Language Of Weaving is not scientific research, but a way to connect the worlds on an equal level and to exchange insights.
Detail. Photo credits: Frank Hanswijk
Artisan specialists
Berber weavers are artisans with many years of experience, but they are also often illiterate. They process important events and experiences through symbols and colours in the rug they weave.
The artisan weaver from the workshop in Tunisia is working on the presentation.
Symbolism
The form of language designs are intensely personal and must be interpreted with care. They often work with the symbols of love, nature, birth and happiness. But also stories in the form of personal convictions and life in the countryside are incorporated into the rugs. The form of language includes, for example, magic numbers and squares, verses from the Quran, Arabic script, geometric shapes, as well as references to the animal and vegetable kingdoms.
Photo credits: Pierre Banoori
Tradition
The history of Berber motifs goes back hundreds of years. It is unknown whether the earliest designs were used on the body in the form of tattoos, or on material objects such as rugs, leather objects or carvings. However, the long tradition of this form of language is still an integral part of the culture of North African countries, and not just in the Berber-majority regions.
Daughter and father stamp a new design for a tapestry together. Photo credits: Maikel Jay
Online shop
For the first phase of the project, we have developed 4 rugs together with the artisan weavers, in which the different shapes, possible techniques and various designs have been applied. All copies from this 1st phase of the project are for sale in our online shop, they are all suitable for both the wall and the floor.
Concept & design ‘The Language of Weaving’: Karlijne Brand in collaboration with Fair Fabrics.
Light and installation : Marco Broeders Co2RO
Design studio Dark & Stormy stamping a new design.
A selection of tapestry designs by visitors to OBJECT 2022
With stamps in the new design language, visitors could stamp their own design. Photo Credits: Lenny Oosterwijk
