new tiles coming soon...

it’s been a while since we made a blog post about anything happening at the studio, because, well, it is a well oiled machine now of things getting designed, printed block by block, then made up and sold… but even with our modular system and infinite possibilities, it’s good to refresh things from time to time and add new ingredients to the well-liked recipes. so we’re working on a brand new tileset - see a little glimpse below!

we’ll be working on some brand new prints with these in the coming months - of course, these tiles will be part of our MODERN collection, not just creating a beautiful collection on their own but working well with more than a hundred of others, extending the possibilities for ever more varied patterns.

if you’re interested in anything bespoke, please do get in touch, we’d be delighted to hear about your project and print fabrics for your interior schemes.

if you got curious about our new stuff - just bear with us while we are putting them together please, you can be sure they’ll arrive in beautiful, bold colours and our signature architectural style! do watch this space…!

zitozza in milan!

happy new year! i hope you’re all well and had a nice little break in the weeks before. we’re back, refreshed, rested and ready to rock and roll! the year could not start better as in the second week of 2024, we went to milano home - well, our fabric and rug samples did, with huge thanks to british jewellery and giftware international. amongst these rug samples is a brand new material so it’s a bit of a mini-debut of our super heavyweight jute as well, which will bring you some even more exciting rugs this year, so there’s already plenty to look forward to (not to mention all those other exciting things in the pipeline that we don’t want to reveal just yet…)

so do stay in touch - and if you can, please visit fiera milano - the expo closes on sunday 14th. zitozza’s plinth is found at the british pavilion amongst other brilliant designers and they’re manned by the BJGI team. they have order forms and everything so do visit and get in touch with a sample!

image credit: BJGI

image credit: BJGI

time for a break - and see you soon in 2024!

that’s it for 2023 peeps, time to take a well-deserved break after a busy year. we have a lot of new things planned for 2024 though so do stay tuned as we’re introducing new materials, new collections and new tilesets too! we hope it’s going to be a blast - please, no more “unforseen circumstances”, universe, please! - and we do want to keep blogging too, from interior trends to the loved architectural inspirations as well as the design conversations.

but first and foremost thank you so much for keeping in touch with us, reading our blog, messaging us, buying something bespoke or handmade from us. we are grateful for your business and we hope you keep looking back here. we wish you have a wonderful christmas break, surrounded by loved ones and delicious food - and have an amazing and prosperous new year. see you soon!

festive market double header weekend!

hello dears, it’s that time of the year again, can you smell the cinnamon and see all the sparkles? it’s festive season time and we do have some nice ones lined up this year again. unfortunately we will not be doing any in glasgow this winter, but for all of you my glaswegian friends, feel free to browse the online selection, we are putting up a lot of the smaller gifts yea as well.

but for those of you in dundee and edinburgh (the first festive one in the city for zitozza!), you can come and get your hands on the tactile goods (and dig into the bargain basket!) as there’s a lovely little line-up of two consecutive weekends.

DCA CRAFTED - 26th & 27th november at the dundee contemporary arts
11:00 - 17:30 (152 nethergate, dundee, DD1 4DY)

the first one is just around the corner, in the city of jute of course, we wouldn’t miss this for anything. this is a fabulous line-up of the very best of contemporary scottish design at a true creative hub. this venue has creative workshops, cinemas and exhibitions so if you’re that kind of crowd, please do come along and have a chat! we really look forward to it.

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festive makers market - 2nd december at edinburgh open workshops
10:00 - 16:00 (39-41 assembly street, edinburgh, EH6 7BQ)

this one is brand new, and we’re particularly excited about this one because for the first time for christmas, we’re heading to edinburgh, to leith to be more precise, the new creative hub of the place! i particularly look forward to meeting the creatives who know about and use edinburgh open workshops as i’ll be joined by furniture makers, woodworkers and other craftspeoople and can’t wait to buy something beautiful too!

so i hope you’re able to join and see us in either dundee or edinburgh - glasgow, aberdeen, and fife, i do hope to see you sometime later, but the online shop remains open 24/7.

if you want to buy anything bespoke or made to order, please place your purchase by tuesday 12th december as after this date, we might not be able to send with enough time before christmas to arrive. regular orders will be shipped right up to christmas, but please be mindful of courier services being overwhelmed and give your order slightly more time than usual.

happy shopping and do have a wonderful, wonderful christmas and all the very best for the new year.

ZITOZZA ON TV!

we have been waiting to announce this news for a while, but we’re finally allowed to say it out loud: zitozza will be on TV!

i am absolutely thrilled to have had the chance to participate in a new project for the BBC titled ‘make it at market’, filmed in beautiful leicestershire earlier this year. the idea of the show is to explore how some talented makers and crafters are turning their hobbies into a business with the help of being mentored by an expert designer - and i got selected to be one of these, to be mentored by the wonderful piyush suri of handmade in britain!)

the challenges were a lot of fun, and obviously the business mentoring has been a huge help, all this while also having met all these amazing and talented people completely flourishing from all kinds of creative disciplines made this a really, really inspiring experience. it will be definitely worth a watch, if not for some “zitozza-behind-the-scenes”, then for the variety of creativity and the immense amounts of talent that this show will cover.

the show is finally confirmed to have an airing date: 3rd january 2023! save the date and do tune in…. eeek!

edit: if you want to learn a bit more about how the experience went, read our next blog post about the episode!

in conversation with jessica clements of JESS ANNE

my oh my, it’s been a while since we had a good, deep design conversation hasn’t it! the talent of course has always been there and shining, but we now finally had the time as well, to meet some and explore their fabulous work. i’m very excited to introduce jessica clements of JESS ANNE today. she is a woven textile designer whose gorgeous works, with incredibly bold and bright colourways caught my eye immediately, and we’ve gone into process, materials and inspiration to bring her vibrant textiles closer to you.

ZITA: hi jess! first things first - could you say a few words about yourself, what you do and how you got there?

JESS: of course! so hello everyone my name is jessica, i’m 26 years old and live in broadstairs in kent and i’m the founder of JESS ANNE! i started my brand in 2019, just before the pandemic and i really wanted to create a brand that explores woven cloth featuring bright colours that spark joy!

ZITA: and it’s working i think! the first thing that really catches the eye about your work i think are your vibrant colourways! i just love the high contrasts and the neons so much. could you share a little bit about the thoughts that go into putting your wonderful schemes together?

JESS: it’s hard to explain but typically i don’t have a source of inspiration as such, it’s more of a feeling that i have. when i look at colours i don’t tend to think of trends or “what’s in”. i tend to think do they spark anything within me, do these colours remind me of a pleasant memory or place, or do they make me feel like if i wore those colours, i would feel confident? pretty? bold? i just sense my way through the colour choices rather then trying to have an elaborate explanation behind them. if the colours feel right, it feels right! obviously, every individual will have different tastes or opinions on style, however, the colours i choose express who i am as a designer and just as a human being!

ZITA: as a fellow pattern lover, i find weaving – and your particularly geometric patterns fascinating, i guess weaving is very “mathematical”. can you explain a little bit about the process of designing your patterns? what does it look like when one of your colourful patterns come together – is it a long chain of trials and errors, or do you nail it most of the time?

JESS: so, weaving is definitely not for those who don’t enjoy maths. weaving is one of those processes where accuracy and maths is everything and could make or break a pattern or even the physical cloth. when i begin my design process i always start with the colours (obvs!). from there, i tend to experiment with whatever i feel like i need to personally conquer as a weaver who is always trying to progress. as i’ve said before i’m not too driven by trend or styles, but much rather just expressing who i am as a designer and where i am in my personal development as a young creative. the geometric patterns was a real test for me! however it was one I wanted to conquer and prove that i can push my limits (and my own confidence!). when developing a design, the maths has to be spot on, and the maths can shift/change depending on the types of yarns and patterns chosen. i experiment with smaller samples first, writing every calculation to make sure I have the right amount of yarn ends and that i’m using the correct size of equipment such as the reed for the cloth i desire.

it’s definitely a trial and error thing! i wish i could say i nailed it on the head every time but that wouldn’t be true. sometimes yarns do not want to cooperate, even if you double checked every calculation and detail. sometimes, even the smallest of details overlooked can dramatically change the look and feel of the cloth. however, once the sample is nailed and its something that i feel proud to put my name too, i would then expand on this sample to create a range of products!

ZITA: what a fascinating process. i find the abstract nature of your work very interesting – i particularly love your woven artworks, it’s like you deconstructed your own craft into something else, something a bit more abstract, they feel quite architectural to me but also remind me of op-art a little bit. can you share a few thoughts about these pieces?

JESS: oh the card windings! i love these little pieces. when studying, we were taught that these card windings were used initially as just a development stage, to try out colourways and warp patterns. however, I started to expand on these using different shapes of card and found they deserved to be mini pieces of art in their own right! carefully hand wrapping card with desired colours in any order?! who wouldn’t?! i think the woven structure will always have an element of being architecturally inspired because the typical woven form relies so heavily on being constructed in a way that it will structurally hold together! not only do they help inform the woven cloth designs but they create such dynamic little studies that are interesting enough to want to hang on the wall!

ZITA: i think they work brilliantly, i really love them. now, let’s talk materials! what kind of materials do you work with – do you mix them often, or do you stick to one or two that works? what works?

JESS: oh good one. i’m a typical creature of habit, however as i’ve been designing, i’ve been trying my hardest to break free from my comfort zones. i tend to weave mainly with lambswool, however, in my most recent collection i have really been trying to expand on my products and offer lighter alternatives to the heavier & warmer wools and been experimenting with cotton/linen blends. i tend to use cottons for my card windings and happen to find myself using these now in my newer designs as a supplementary yarn. i’m hoping the more i evolve as a designer, the more i will be adventurous and try more yarns! eek!

ZITA: have you found that sustainability and ethical sourcing has become more of a point with your customers as well as in your supply chain? how do you find this – have you always worked with such materials?

JESS: i think by now most consumers are concerned with the environment, as they should be! it’s so important for people to realise the impact the textile industry has on the environment, and this should definitely be more integrated into our buying habits. as an independent designer and so early on in my journey, i handweave all of my designs, eliminating the risk of buying into any sort of sub par factory conditions or any sort of exploitation (although, it’s of my understanding now these regulations are in place and finally the textile world is shifting into a much more ethical way of producing). the yarns i order are from smaller independent shops in the UK, who also do their own background investigations into where they source their yarns. the company that i purchase my lambswool from and the cottons are very transparent in their processes which makes the selection process much easier. it’s so difficult to navigate through the world of industry, however, i remain conscious of my purchases and in the future when i have built up my brand, i strive to be a designer who is part of the ever so important sustainability movement.

ZITA: i think it’s growing really quite fast, nearly all designers i know are now considering this. i got to know you as a fellow participant of a new TV Show and you’ve also been through some thorough mentoring and an intensive development process i guess! how has it been for you in the last few months? without any spoilers, can you share a little bit about how you have developed your work and maybe about some of the new pieces?

JESS: so the show really helped me become who I am today in just a short amount of time! the mentoring was pretty intense to say the least and it was difficult at times to break old habits and ways of thinking, but it was exactly what I needed to tap in to the potential for my woven designs! before filming i lacked confidence and found my development of designing was very slow, as i was always very nervous of trying new patterns/yarn in case they didn’t work out (yes, i am one of those people that if i don’t nail it first time, i get very frustrated!) however the mentoring on the show really helped me overcome that fear and removed the barrier between me as a designer and creating much more statement designs. the designs that will feature in the show really came from a place of needing to push my own boundaries rather then a specific source of inspiration. i view this collection as a natural progression from my previous broadstairs project and i think there something really lovely about my projects linking this way.

ZITA: this is very exciting and i can’t wait to see al this progress on TV soon. development is an interesting process, have you found any new sources of inspiration? where do you normally go to or look to? have you found it’s changed lately?

JESS: i think my design process and sources of inspiration changes almost constantly. as my practice and skills develop and as i continue to design, i find my inspiration shifts so frequently that’s its hard to even keep up with myself! i was inspired mostly by nature and my surroundings in my home town, however i found that more recently my work is more inspired by my own feelings and the feeling i wanted to provoke in people if they were to wear my design. i’m starting to really explore how fabric design and colour combinations can provoke different emotions.  

ZITA: fascinating! and where do you want to see your work most? what’s your dearest ambition, where do you want to take your work next?

JESS: i would absolutely adore to see my brand grow and eventually develop into a fashion brand. the dream has always been to see my fabrics on garments such as beautiful, tailored suits and dresses and feature in glossy magazines (i think most designers have this day dream!), TV, instagram… and just generally see my work being used by all over the world! the sky is the limit!

ZITA: yeah, you go girl! and now the question i ask from everyone - can you recommend a book? or an artist or a maker whose work is worth looking into? something or someone that keeps you thinking forward?

JESS: oh my goodness there’s so many artists and designers that inspire me from across the board i couldn’t possibly narrow It down! there’s so many amazing weavers out there such as margo selby, ptolemy mann, rita parniczky, theo rooden… the list is endless! i think any of these artist would be good start if you wanted to understand more about woven design and what is possible!

ZITA: and lastly but most importantly, where can we see your work next?

JESS: so as i’m typing this i have no current exhibitions or markets coming up, however my products are available through my website and i welcome emails or instagram DMs enquiring to commission or purchase. i’m currently still in the process of re-branding and re developing my website and i’m communicating with smaller retailers about becoming stockists. exciting! ahh!

ZITA: sounds like you have a lot on your plate, but i’m sure it will work out. thanks so much for talking with me!

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Links:

JESS ANNE website

JESS ANNE instagram

‘make it at market’ (BBC media centre website)

margo selby website

ptolemy mann (crafts council website)

rita parniczky (saatchi art website)

theo rooden website

guest post for support the makers!

hello readers! it’s been a while, but i have been blogging, i promise. just not here, but over there at the support the makers, whose network i joined earlier this year, and decided to introduce myself in a short blog post, in which i share a little bit about my background, my motivations and what really is behind the zitozza brand. go have a read for yourselves here!

unfortunately, my participation in their 1st may market at bellfield, portobello (the one announced in the march newsletter), had to be cancelled again - at least not due to covid, but for a much more exciting reason which i will be able to share later! however, it’s still worth a visit so please do go and support the line-up of talented makers from all over the UK.

i’m sure i will be there at some point with other of their markets (a pop-up shop in london is also in the works now - more of that later!)

i will have more exciting news and markets to announce soon, and until then, please keep an eye on the blog, our instagram and of course the newsletter!

market alert - support the makers

good afternoon - this just a very quick announcement that zitozza joined the support the makers network and will be attending the spring market on sunday 6th march, at bellfield, portobello, edinburgh (16b bellfield st, portobello, edinburgh EH15 2BP) between 11am and 4pm.

this is a ticketed event (costs £1.50) so hurry up and purchase yours now - and see you there soon!

UPDATE 03/03/2022

many apologies but due to a positive covid test zitozza will be unable to attend the market. we are definitely, definitely going to the next one though (same place, in may), so stay tuned and i will leave this post here because i’m sure that it will be still worth attending!

...and that's a wrap! here's to 2022!

still can’t quite comprehend how fast it’s been, but thank you so much for keeping up to date with us throughout our first full year. we have a lot of exciting things planned for 2022 and we hope you do too! until then, we wish you a very, very happy christmas and see you in an amazing new year!

a survey on rugs - your opinion wanted!

dear friends, i have an important question to you ahead of the new collection launches, concerning the rugs in particular. in a nutshell - would you be okay with improved quality on the rugs at the price of biodegradability? how important is it to you to purchase something that’s 100% jute - as opposed to, say, 67% jute, 33% polyester? it’s a big dilemma at the moment and i need your help to decide!

so if you feel like answering or giving your opinion, please fill out the form below. you will not receive marketing or any other email and we remain fully gdpr compliant - read our privacy policy here.

psa - studio move!

so this is just a short blog post to thank you for bearing with us - we have spent the last few weeks moving everything into a shiny brand new studio space and it’s nearly complete. it’s a much bigger space now to make more brand new rugs, lampshades and cushions and launch my brand new collection - two brand new tilesets are coming soon with prints ready on jute homewares.

as we are coming out of lockdown, there are also some more exciting news and yes, some real-life (yes, still socially distanced, still masked up, but also real!) events coming up soon of which some more news will be shared very soon - this will also serve as a perfect occasion to launch the zitozza wall-art collection (of which, yes, more details will be shared soon)

so once again, thanks for your patience, and hope to see you soon!

stitched patterns

ok so this is going to be another more visual blog post and i might have to share a little bit more of the history behind these prints. (if you’re interested in the full origin story, you can visit my other website where i have already written a blog post about it here, however i’m quite willing to write more if you want to read!)

anyway, one of the base of zitozza was a uni project called “anthropocene” where one of the three collection called “GRIDS” consisted of block printed jute (now the SOROMPÓ, TRANZIT, FÁZIS and a small part of the SKÁLA tilesets). however each of these also had an extra “haptic” layer over the print and on the “GRIDS” collection these were stitches.

the main inspiration behind these initial patterns were of course actual grids, transport networks, cranes, gas tanks, industrial architecture, signals and signs, that kind of stuff. so naturally, more lines, straight and zigzag stitches were applied for that kind of “wiring” effect.

i’m going to put some products with these surface effects up for sale in the coming weeks to test and see how you’d like them. below then is the picture gallery of these older ideas. these are all from that old project (hence the aligning colours) with the more grid-like tiles, and linear or zigzaggy stitches that complement the surface. the colour inspiration came from industrial signage too at the time but i just love the nautical effect of these.

as for the future, i’m especially interested in this effect on the lampshades for the potential contrast against the illumination. what do you think? would this work on a rug? or a cushion?

and about the other, more brutalist, blocky patterns… combining embroidery with these is also possible, even with different colours and bolder areas, however these will be an entirely new category of haptic, tactile rugs and lampshades and cushion. see also the BRUTEJUTE project and watch this space….! :)

cushion stories (inside the scrap bag)

ah september, we’re well and truly open, and getting into autumn already (crazy). i hope you’re enjoying browsing the shop so far - thank you for the many follows on social media! we will always have regular updates in this blog too, and there’s an exciting product pipeline in the works i’d love to share news about. i’m going to attempt a picture blog this time and i’ll let the photos do the talking. the first of this kind is about our new cushions - some available since monday, some you’ll see a sneaky peeky of here first!

about the ones available: thank you so much for all the positive feedback on the two NOMÁD ones. feel free to purchase, i’m going to make them again, and if it’s out stock, they will be available in the made-to-order section. i personally also love this pattern and i’m thinking of trying it out in a few different colours and printing it as a runner rug as well. would you be interested in it?

about the cushions in general… you might have noticed, only one at the moment is purpose printed with both sides, and most are backed with a pre-dyed piece of jute. this will not always be the case as some printed fabric is waiting to be made into cushions. but the truth is… the scrap bag is a little bit too distracting and it is just so much combining remnants from lampshades or other cushions with all these colours (and with each-other in the future too!)

using the scraps is also a creative way of going zero-waste. i’ve become religiously obsessive about this and i want to be honest with it. scraps and remnants in our production line don’t just happen with pattern cutting, but i use up the dye as well if it’s a mixed colour and can’t be put back into the jar. if it’s enough for a small area, it gets printed and used up! this makes some cushions a truly unique, one-off piece. i hope you come back frequently for them!

but anyway, enjoy the pictures!

it’s all about the system

hello! and welcome to zitozza. we are now open and this is our first blog post. introductions are always awkward so let’s get it quickly over with. the intention of this blog is to keep it updating regularly, with all the latest research into our processes and thoughts that drive our designs, and of course news and developments around our studio. also, of course, to give a chance to look behind the scenes from time to time, share some inspiration and sneak peeks of up and coming products. so let’s start with a short introductory post.

so what is exactly do we do here at zitozza? first and foremost, surface pattern design. however i understand that’s a little generic, given that the “surface” at zitozza is made exclusively of jute, for its amazing, tactile texture and incredibly sustainable qualities. we mostly cover surfaces in the modern home such as rugs, lampshades and cushions and these products showcase the variety of patterns possible with the printing blocks. (although you can, for sure, make bags and other things of our fabrics too (and if you do, please share!)

and yeah, well, pattern design must be specified further too. we don’t just offer separate patterns in defined colourways, no. here’s the interesting bit: the zitozza look is all one system! not individual designs, not separate collections (okay, a little bit), but it’s all about the system. our patterns are made of (mostly) uniform sized, square shaped printing blocks, creating the system of interchangeable, infinitely combinable designs, and you can make it as simple or as complicated as you want. they are separated into MODERN and HERITAGE, the former consisting of brutalism-inspired, geometric elements and the latter a bit more organic and tradtional, but all arranged in an orthogonal geometry that’s unique and defining our look.

this system allows us to create an infinite number of pattern with the same printing blocks in individual colourways, suited to your taste and surroundings. because of the flat, square shapes of our blocks, we call them tiles, and instead of collections, we call them tilesets, because they are not a collection, and it’s all one system. we don’t have collections in the sense of metres and metres of the same pattern and even samples are made to order because the hand printing makes a deep level of customisation and exclusive designs possible.

apart from having immense fun making them, we want to be able to offer unique designs and something that can be varied further in a single room but remains in the same modern, hand printed style of course that we define as the “zitozza aesthetics”.

what we want to offer to the modern home is colours, play, and nice, durable things that didn’t cost the earth.

so why don’t you browse and discover for yourself what’s available? explore our “collections” or make up your own design with these blocks.