daily news from SLOWFASHIONhouse and Rigetta Klint

I first saw this stone collection one and a half year ago, and I couldn't get it out of my mind —

Usually I like it when a stone is a stone, and first of all I don’t like imitations —

But these are the exceptions that prove the rule; I'm ready to welcome nature into our house and furnish our lounge with those oversized poufs in felted wool.

 Ronel Jordaan is an internationally recognized, award-winning textile artist who lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. After 26 years as a textile designer, Jordaan began exploring the possibilities of using felt as a creative medium. Entirely self-taught and following her own creative instincts, she began to turn fine gossamer thread into robust felted forms. By patiently rubbing and coaxing threads of pure wool into shapes from nature, she found her direction and started a small home industry.

All of Jordaan's felt pieces are made with an eye to environmental and social responsibility. The wool is treated by hand, the soap used is biodegradable, the dyes are lead free, and they grey wastewater is used to grow a vegetable garden. Job creation is at the forefront of the company's planning. At present, 40 previously unemployed women have been trained under Jordaan and are now felters of international standing.

Ronel Jordaan’s feted stone collection is managed for SLOWDESIGNhouse by the SWEDISH fairtrade company EMOSA.

                                                                                                                       Rigetta Klint