The Textîles Co. by Nola Milani

The Textîles Co. ETHICAL HANDMADE TEXTILES & ACCENTS

www.textilesco.com

What we are about

The Text Îles Co.

(Ethical Handmade Textiles & Accents) is a resource and supply company for designers and companies looking for intermediate materials that are both gorgeous and ethical .

The TextÎles Co. contributes towards a more ethical design and fashion industry by making it easy for designers to access ethical and sustainable intermediate materials. We expand ethical design possibilities through continuous research and development of design oriented and innovative ethical intermediate materials.

We connect the dots and open up doors, making the inaccessible, reachable.

We offer small, community producers who are not yet capable to transact international business on their own, an access to a bigger market. We provide designers the chance to explore and discover materials and skills that are normally inaccessible to them. We present them with traceable ethical intermediate materials that address their needs.

What you’ll find here

Natural Materials Explore the luxury that nature provides. Working with forest and rural based communities, we offer natural materials that are sustainably gathered and mainly hand-processed by community members.

Recycled Materials Still under development, we are working towards providing designers the possibility to easily source recycled raw materials.

Artisanal Skills Marry your imagination with their hands and their stories. Find inspiration and create something new from a junction of worlds and know-how or simply reconnect with roots through handmade and traditionally made products.

Find here the materials and the skills that you need to bring your ethical design into reality .

What do we do

We provide a range of products and services in order to accommodate the various needs of designers, individuals, companies and communities.

Sourcing

We match designers with intermediate material suppliers and with artisans from around the world, starting first from where my roots come from, Southeast Asia. We coordinate, consolidate and mediate between the designers and the producers. In order to expand potential materials and skills, we work with organizations in building capacities of communities to become new partner suppliers of ethical intermediate materials.

¢Ethical Supply Hub Still in development, we are working on the offer for designers and communities with their own coordinators and in-house capacity to transact international business, to possibly have direct access to each other through the Hub. Membership by both community producer and designers allow direct communication from both sides.

Finishing Currently under development, we provide interior decorators, designers and architects to have the textiles they ordered, finished into end products, ready for use. We can finish ordered textiles into throw pillows, panels, wall décor, to name a few.

The Shop You will find in the shop the materials that we have designed and developed. And for those with small volume requirements, or those who are in the exploratory stage, our shop provides you an access to a range of raw and intermediate materials and swatches.

Design & Development We work with community producer and partner designers in developing new and innovative intermediate materials through in-house research and design to continuously expand our range of materials.

Building Sustainable Communities Going beyond business, we work with our partners towards building sustainable communities through small projects like permaculture, educational scholarships, resource conservation, a mini-library, etc.

Our Principles

Glocal Reach

Sustainable & Ethical Production

Our solidarity and our impacts aim to support both global and local communities.

Ecological Materials: We strive to only use raw materials that are either sustainably gathered by community suppliers or are recycled. Handmade: We work with artisans to keep their traditions alive and support their livelihoods. Community Based: We engage marginalized and poor communities to provide alternative sources of income to those who need them. We ensure proper working conditions and appropriate compensation. Respect of Culture and Traditions The richness of designs we are able to offer here is based on culture and traditions of indigenous communities. We give due respect to their way of life by ensuring that our production and operation do not go against or impact them negatively. Through appropriate lead-time, considerate designs and flexibility, we work towards accommodating their needs.

To provide options for lowcarbon footprint and to contribute to local economies, we are exploring and developing partnerships in Europe. This means supporting local European artisans, recycling partnerships and, providing economic opportunities for excluded members of society. Respect of Intellectual Property Rights Credit is given to whom they are due. We ensure confidentiality of bespoke designs.

Who I Am – Nola Andaya-Milani I come from the islands, an archipelago, in fact. But now, I’m based in France. The original idea was to work with textiles from my home country, hence the name, a contraction of the word textile and the French word for islands, Îles. But there are so many beautiful creations around the world and a more important mission at hand. And so from textiles and my islands, I am reaching out to the whole world in order to provide you with a wide range of ethical raw and intermediate materials. The TextÎles Co. is built on years of relationship I have nurtured with various artisan groups from the Philippines and in Southeast Asia while I was working with them to establish community enterprises and market their crafts locally and internationally. Having moved to the other side of the world, I continue my commitment to them through this endeavor. For over six years, I worked directly with forest and rural based communities on sustainable production and marketing of their handmade crafts. My work with the non-government organization exposed and trained me on issues on sustainable resource management, indigenous people’s rights, community land tenure, and sustainable development. Throughout those six years, I also followed design and product development, fair trade, the eco-chic trend and then, ethical fashion and design. That time, I started a local initiative called, MODI Modern Indigenous that brought urban designers and rural artisans together. Part of this project was organizing design clinics and community visits and sourcing tours for designers. In 2008, I left to go back to school after which, I worked as a volunteer and a freelance consultant on non-timber forest products marketing and sustainable development. While I continue my work in development as a freelance consultant, I have also now ventured into the world of entrepreneurship. I was born in the cool and chaotic city of Manila. I lived most of my life there. In between, I ventured out: a year in Madrid, a month in Toulouse, six months in Paris, a quarter of a year in Ljubljana, a year in Italy and some small cities and villages in between. Now, almost a year and a half in the south of France. I have a masters degree in Cultural Management from Spain and an honors masters degree in comparative local development from Italy.

thetextilesco@gmail.com The Textiles Co. www,textilesco.com