Waist woven elegant decorative pillow from Artemateria
With a successful appearance at NY NOW™ in January and several projects in the works, 2015 has been a great year for Artemateria. Perhaps most notably, the home and lifestyle company has recently teamed up with two widely recognized brands.
“Recently we’ve sold 66 baskets to the (Calvin Klein Home) Madison Avenue store,” say Maribel Iza, one of Artemateria’s co-founders. “Additionally, Sundance placed 2 orders with us for a total of 70 pieces from Chiapas.” Among Artemateria’s finely crafted textiles and home wares, pillows and handmade palm leaf baskets remain their most popular items.
Prototype baskets for Calvin Klein Home and Sundance
Founded from the collective passion for connecting art and economic development in the community, Artemateria has grown exponentially from its humble beginnings in Chicago. For co-founders, Dalia Lerner and Maribel Ize, Artemateria has been a “mini-MBA” for them. “We’re excited to grow organically,” says Maribel.
When asked what the future holds for Artemateria, Maribel and Dalia were very optimistic about the possibilities for their expanding company and brand.
“In 5 years, we would love to open our own store and experiment with new products,” says Lerner. “We also would like to create more partnerships and bring in more designers. Hopefully do more (small) shows in Chicago. We’d love to explore the market in California.”
Home ware products from Artemateria at the ATA booth during NY NOW™
With things looks bright for Artemateria, Ize and Lerner credit Aid to Artisans for a portion of their success. Artemateria attended the Market Readiness Program™ in 2013 and displayed their product in the ATA booth ever since.
“It’s been an uphill battle but we are starting to see results. Working with ATA definitely opened up doors for us.”
