When form and function meet, you have our attention. Rayas Collective sell handwoven baskets that are a blend of both: stylish, colorful and practical. Sisters Luisa and Consuelo started Rayas in June 2022, after a trip to Consuelo’s home country of El Salvador. This style of basket-making is a traditional Salvadorain artisanship, using wooden molds as the base to support the creations, which take 3-4 hours total to make. When Consuelo bought Luisa a basket as a gift, more and more people started asking after them, which is how Rayas was born.
Rayas means stripes in Spanish, and it’s easy to see why the pair chose this for their name: the designs are crossed with playful patterns and stripes. The palettes are inspired by anything from berries on a bush to panna cotta, aperitivo and mother of pearl. As for the making, Luisa and Consueulo work with an artisan called Vanessa, who makes the baskets and has taught her family to weave as well. Coming from a product design background, Luisa makes suggestions for the color schemes, handle lengths and other details, while Vanessa’s knowledge of material and technique dictate the making itself. The colorful strands are made of both virgin and post-consumer high density polyethylene. This material is one of the most widely recycled plastic polymers worldwide, and the material’s waterproof, lightweight and UV resistant properties make it practical and extremely durable – ready to withstand sand, ocean and Schlachtensee water alike…
Text: Savannah van der Niet / Photos: Savannah van der Niet and Rayas Collective
You can find Rayas online, or at the “The Room | Walk the Line” exhibition at Forma Gallery opening on 15.06.2023.
@rayas_collective
