FIBRES
a grounding fiber,
a singing yarn,
a vibrating cloth,
the spinning, humming and weaving of a love song to people, animals and the earth.
FIBRES OF PASSION
The fibre is the beginning and expression of all textile quality; it defines the lifetime of a textile, the way it ages, and the way it lasts. Therefore Studio Daniel Costa chooses to work with selected fibres such as yak wool, nettle fibre, Tibetan sheep wool, goat hair, and others. Whenever possible, the fibres used in the collection are directly sourced from the Nepalese highlands, hills, or lowlands.
“We spend much effort and passion in finding the most authentic ones, meeting the people who produce them, understanding the landscapes where they belong, and choosing the right people and the right environment to carefully and manually process them into yarn and ultimately into a fabric.”
THE STINGING NETTLE
Our towels and bedspreads are carefully crafted from the nettle plant (Girardinia Diversifolia) in a remote village in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal. The dried bark of this plant is hand processed into fibre, hand spun into yarn and finally hand woven into fabric. The stinging nettle is an ancient mythological fibre with structuring and vitalizing properties. The power of the mountain, the fertility and rootedness of the forest, and the know-how of skilled artisans are woven and chanted into the fibre and into the towels.
THE MIGHTY YAK
The domestic yak is a descendant of the much larger wild yak, which are extremely rare and thrive happily as high as 6000 metres above sea level, revelling in freezing, low-oxygen, high-solar radiation conditions.
In order for humans to establish a firm foothold on the Himalayan high- lands, yaks were needed and domesticated already 2500 years ago. The original yak is a large, spirited, cold-resistant bovine with a big heart, big lungs, and a massive long-haired coat. Both the wild yak as well as the domestic yak have a rough outer coat and a down-like precious under- coat, which is valued for its softness and warmth. The rough outer coat is used to craft ropes and textiles for tents. The undercoat, called “Khullu“ is used to weave softer textiles. The holy yak provides milk, cheese, and meat, as well as textiles for shelter and culture, but it also heats the fire places with its dried dung, and so the mighty yak is cherished for being an existential part of human life and mythology in the sparse upper Himalayas.
GOAT HAIR
In our rug collection, we also have pieces made from goat hair textiles. This hair is said to protect from evil, but it also protects from snakes and insects. An archaic and strong fibre for textile lovers and collectors.
