Toino Abel
Toino Abel is a brand of handmade reed baskets, made with an handcraft technique which remains unchanged since time immemorial. The dried reed is weaved on a loom to build a mat which is then hand-sewn, adorned with a wicker handle, a leather buckle and a shoulder strap and finally a handmade ceramic charm engraved with a reed blossom. Born in 2010 in a village in the interior of Portugal, Toino Abel now presents another collection which has two highlighted features: exclusive patterns and the pioneer use of colors to tint the reed. Along with these new features, the brand remains unchanged in its rigorous observance of the reed work tradition, its concern with being a sustainable company, both environmentally and economically, and its constant search for innovation.
Toino Abel was founded by Nuno Henriques, who has experimented and developed an increasing interest for handwork over the past 10 years. The name comes from the name of his grandfather who was called Antonio and people called him Toino. Abel was the name of his father. To distinguish him from other Toinos (there are many Antonios in a catholic country and they all have the same nickname) people referred to him as Toino Abel. Which carries the meaning of “The son Toino of the father Abel”.
Nuno uses his understanding of craft and his passion for nature to drive forward a tradition that has been lost almost completely. The same nature that makes the reed grow wild in clear waters, to then be picked, once a year only, when it blossoms. A care which allows its seeds to spread and renew, all to happen, year after year. The respect for this life cycle gives this art of working the reed its sustainable character, attentive to all which surrounds it. A Toino Abel bag is sustainable when it concerns the reed, the leather from vegetable tanning, and the lead and nickel-free metal pieces. And whichever size is chosen, each bag will reach you protected inside an ecological cotton bag.
The art of making reed baskets has been in Nuno Henriques’ family forever. The core manufacturing is still the same since the first day: the artisans’ hands. They pick, cut, dye, operate the handloom and finally weave the reed. Throughout the entire process, there is nothing more valuable than the relationship which is established between human knowledge and nature. Nowadays, it’s not enough to do things as in the old days, reinvention is needed. At Toino Abel, the concern with innovation is a daily occurrence, and leads to researching new raw materials, new approaches, new ways to weave the reed, innovative coloring and color fixation techniques. Many of these processes are exclusive to the brand and are the result of the entire team’s hard work in developing new solutions, together with the artisans.
Toino Abel carries Portugal’s name beyond its borders with a modern, innovative and unique image. A Toino Abel bag carries the memories of a region, its people and its cultural heritage, but it also carries new ideas, new designs and new functions. It unites its practical and useful spirit with its playful and fashionable side.
Once you have understood how their bags are made, you will look at them through different eyes. From day one Toino Abel wanted to show how their bags are made. So they started with a regular Sony Cyber-shot, documenting Cidália and Emília, on their loom space, with more than a few cobwebs and a hung calendar forgotten in time. Since then many journalist and photographers passed by the village to spread the word. In 2017 Toino Abel commissioned artist Dinis Santos to document our process through his lenses. It took a whole year as some of our tasks are seasonal or performed once a year. The result was a 12-minute documentary, with no music, no voice nor interview. We would like to invite you to watch it here and visit Dini’s great work here.
Sustainability means that living and working conditions are safe and dignified as well as an economy that supports the ecosystem. Unlike the straw bag general panorama Toino Abel´s artisans are well paid so that they can do what they love: craft. Fair payments allow people to have a chance to work in craft as a passion and not as a last resource. Within the last 8 years they have increased the price per piece paid to established artisans by 105%. TOINO ABEL employs directly 3 persons who are all paid equally, whether if it is a woman or a man, a crafter or our founder, as we all work hard to bring you the best craft in class.
Toino Abel was the first, and for many years the only, movement interested in the Portuguese reed basket making. And they acted at a crucial time, when artisans were very few and all well over their seventies and rather demotivated. Toino Abel started out by documenting, cherishing and sharing this craft to a new public - people with shared values and aesthetic affinities. They paid better prices, improved working conditions, documented all patterns and technical details, made the manufacturing process transparent, returned to the use of local materials, and invested in design and research.
The ancient craft of making reed baskets has been in the same family for five generations, interrupted only by the ‘baby boomer’ generation. They are now a small but passionate team between their twenties and forties working with the very best crafters. Being crafters themselves they are proud to bring this tradition forward as they feel a sense of responsibility for its history, process and balance with nature. A modern approach to craft and basketry is taken bringing together an in-house designed collection with a very unique savoir-faire, while adopting an unique role that merges nature, design and an ancient craft. Currently most of the artisans are of old age. A new generation of weavers will need to learn the craft in order to continue with the production in the future.
Sustainability naturally also means support nature, its resources and cycles. Our main material grows wild, every year in a slightly different location. No human action is required and no pesticides, fertilisers, or polluants of any kind are used. Almost all the process does not even use electricity. Only vegetable tanned leather and ecological certified cotton are used. Most of the production waste is decomposed in the garden, a few steps from the workshop. No varnish is used and they hate plastic as much as lack of originality. Of course, there is still a lot to be done. It is extremely difficult to avoid the production of trash, so the dye baths have to be made in an entirely new way and transportation is still a problem.
While the Portuguese landscape is being transformed into an eucalyptus monoculture – with fires every 10 years, drying soils, damaging neighboring crops, being inadequate to other economies like livestock, its lack of beauty and of tourist value - Toino Abel is moving in the opposite direction, providing the depopulated countryside with an activity that makes sense: “We keep and honor a cultural identity, with integrity and yet innovation. We respect our roots and give the world a bit of color while we preserve a little portion - our portion - of nature.”
With a female designer at the helm, they bring they intuition and lived experience hand to hand with a unique savoir-faire to create an original and beautiful collection. Creative director Sara Miller joined the label in 2016. With a Bachelor in Fashion Design from CITEX in Oporto, Sara has worked in fashion houses for 15 years. At Toino Abel she has designed a collection that pays tribute to textile history and that magically foresees today’s trends.
Toino Abel is always seeking like-minded people to join the journey. Collaborations with artists like Paco Ortí in an interchange program between Portugal and Catalonia, organized by Arte Próxima, is a good example. Another collaboration was together with Spanish fashion brand Ailanto: Toino Abel produced the accessories for its SS16 fashion show presented at Madrid Fashion Week. And recently a collaboration with the very talented REALITY STUDIO has been done, breaking the boundaries of Portuguese basketry.
Together with painter Nuno Viegas, Toino Abel rebuilt a semi-ruin that will function as an Art Residency in their small village. It is now the home and working place of Nuno Viegas since the beginning of 2018. While invited artists can benefit from a place to live and work surrounded by nature, enabling them to focus on their work, our community benefits from the opportunity to experience that thoughtful and unique voice that artists have within themselves.
Based: Castanheira, Portugal.
Ships to: Worldwide.
Products: Handmade reed baskets.
Mission: To revive the production of hand-crafted reed baskets
Vision: To preserve a sense of uniqueness and a cultural identity in a world where there is standardization of culture, a world where things are getting more and more the same everywhere, while at the same time manufacturing as ethical and ecological as possible.
