Stitched in the desert: Iota’s Products Are Made by Bedouin Women in the Negev
A home interiors and accessories company is providing jobs for Bedouin women who aren’t allowed to hold employment outside of their home. Tal Zur, CEO of Iota Hand Stitched, speaks to Design Milk about why they think “soft furniture” is the next home design frontier, how they found themselves in the Negev, and where their designs are going this summer!
Tal Zur, CEO of Iota Studio. Photo by Or Kaplan.
Design Milk’s Keshia Badalge at Iota Hand Stitched in Tel Aviv, Israel.
“If you want a product that is straight, where all the sides are equal, the color is all the same, then that’s not us. Our products are alive,” Zur tells us as we sit in her studio in Tel Aviv. And sure enough, her studio emulates that same liveliness, with hanging swings, chunky-knit rugs and pillows and shelves full of colorful yarn, specifically put together by a colorist on their team.
Inside Iota Hand Stitched in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo by Or Kaplan.
These home accessories are not only delight to look at and plop down onto, they also tell a small but proud story of Bedouin women empowerment. Bedouin women are traditionally not allowed to hold jobs outside of their home. They spend most of their time on domestic chores and taking care of their children.
Zur first learned about a group of Bedouin women working with a designer in Jaffa in Tel Aviv. Through him, she was able to slowly get introduced to the women and gain their trust.
Now, Zur and her team go to Hura, a Bedouin township in the Negev desert, to teach Bedouin women how to crochet and make Iota’s home products. Not only have they created a home-based industry in the Negev where women can work, for most of these women, it is their first opportunity to earn an income.
Bedouin women making products for Iota Hand Stitched.
Zur says, “When they finally have some money that is their own, it makes them confident, it makes them feel important. They can make certain decisions at home, like picking clothes for their children. It sounds so simple to us but to them, it is a big change.”
TouristIsrael and TouristJordan bring people to visit some of the more accessible Bedouin communities in Israel and Jordan. “I don’t think it is good or bad to live as a Bedouin woman,” Zur says, “but it is important for these things to happen, for people to see, for communities to understand each other’s culture better.”
In 2017, Iota was tapped by the car company Peugeot to make a special line of car mats for their concept car. Peugeot had asked for grey mats, but Zur remarked, “What we do is colors!” So, in trademark Iota style, the team tagged their samples of grey with their signature, colorful yarns. Peugeot did not miss the gesture, and responded by asking Iota to mix pops of color into their yarn.
“You know how people started talking about everything slow…slow food, slow fashion,” Zur said, “We think that the next generation will be soft. Soft furniture. Soft living.”
Grey Pouf. Photo by Or Kaplan.
Design Milk’s Keshia Badalge at Iota Studio. Photo by Or Kaplan.
Zur also told us that they just got an update this week that the Black Forest swing is hanging in Tom Dixon’s new office.
Iota Hand Stitched’s Black Swing. Photo by Noam Preisman.
Photo by Or Kaplan.
This summer, Iota will be hosting knitting parties in London and New York to launch their DIY bag kits. The philosophy behind this, Zur says, is “to make your own things, to do something slowly. It is social as well, in that we believe making things that you own and use is good for you.”
DIY Bag Kits. Photo by Noam Preisman.
DIY Bucket Bag. Photo by Noam Preisman.
Crochet tote bags. Photo by Noam Preisman.
To make one of your own, sign up on this list to be informed when an Iota knitting party comes to your city!
This studio visit was made possible by Vibe Israel, a non-profit organization that organized this year’s Vibe Design Tour.
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