Ikea’s new line was handmade by Jordanian women and Syrian refugees

Lately it seems like Ikea is launching one hypebeast collection after the next. It can be hard to remember that the Swedish retailer also has a long legacy of working with refugee populations, including designing flatpack shelters that have already been deployed around the world.

Ikea

Last year, Ikea announced that it was partnering with the Jordan River Foundation to create a collection of good with the help of Jordanian women and Syrian refugees. Now that collection is here. Tilltalande is a line of woven home goods that includes a rug, a seat cushion, and graphic pillows.

Like Ikea’s other social entrepreneurship initiatives, Tilltalande is the result of drawing on local talent. In this case, 50 female Jordanian artisans have teamed with 50 Syrian refugees to design and manufacture the line.

Ikea

Ikea

Ikea has plans to scale the small operation to more than 400 artisans by next year, as it gears up to launch a second edition of Tilltalande. The first edition was released earlier this year in Amman, Jordan, and it’s making its stateside debut at Ikea’s store in Brooklyn at the end of June.