1About
iota is a lifestyle brand focusing on contemporary interior decoration and accessories. It was founded in 2014 by Tal Zur and Shula Mozes, who shared a vision of preserving the handcraft of crochet and revising its shapes and proportions to create a new aesthetic and uniquely designed pieces. Choosing crochet was both the starting point for the design and the possibility to create social change.
iota is a start-up – its products are not software and the technology used is low-tech, but the rugs, swings and all the other merchandise are complex and smart, and iota’s technology, the crocheting technique, is a handcraft passed from generation to generation.
iota’s employees form a great team, iota’s investors believe that design can make a social change, and we collaborate with many international brands to make this change. All this is something beyond competition.
2The Team
Shula Mozes
Co-Founder Shula Mozes is a social entrepreneur and artisan crocheter. She represents the social motivation of iota and the one who first envisioned how preserving crochet can also have a hands-on ability to create social change. As a businesswoman she believed that social agenda fused with high design can create an interesting social business model.
Shula is also founder of ‘LAMERHAV’, a philanthropic voluntary association, seeking social change through in-depth intervention in lives of highly motivated Israeli young adults who lack the family backing necessary to realize their potential as adults.
Tal Zur
Co-Founder and CEO. Tal Zur is alum of the HIT design academy and a professor at the school. She is also alum of the Museology and Curator program at the Tel Aviv University. After a carrier in fashion design where she fell in love with textile and hand work, Tal finds magic in redefining the meaning of craft, combining between industrial and textile designs, and proving that design can create an impact. Tal is the face of iota, the visionary, the big dreamer. She brings her visions for creative ideas and new and inventive business models, inspiring the team and leading it to excellency in business strategy and design achievements.
Dorit Chesler
COO. Dorit Chesler is an architect and a has Master of Science in Conservation of Historic Constructions from the Technical University of Prague. She is an organically raised manager, experienced in integration of management and growth into creative artisan environments. Acting as the general manager of the brand, Dorit is part of the leadership team, skilled to make ideas into reality, that is why we call her the fairy. With sensitivity to both details and numbers she leads all chief processes within the brand and with its partners.
Noa Curiel
Head of Design. Noa Curiel is an alum of HIT design academy in Industrial design and L’ecole Lesage for embroidery in Paris. Noa has a unique and delicate approach to design, allowing craft to be a great part of her inspiration, and to carry her to freeing it from its boundaries. Noa leads the creative team, from the drawing table through all stages of product development and production. She has the best taste, knows to predict the next trend, and has a unique approach to details, texture, and color.
Tami Eilat
Project & Visual Manager. Tami is a graphic designer, alumni of Shenkar design academy. She plays two roles in iota, integrating her skills and abilities. Tami manages all the brands day to day and operations, being the one who sees all the small things that no one ever sees and makes sure that everything is as it should in every scale. She is also the brands visual manager, bringing her unique visual point of view and defining how the brand presents itself in all aspects, online and around the globe.
Chen Bogin
Head of Marketing & Customer Relations. Chen is a product designer, alumni of HIT design academy. In her final project she was trying to bring together plant seeds with textile, realizing that sustainability could come alive in different ways. In iota Chen takes care of telling iota’s story, creating new business, partners and contacts
Lena Maikon
Hand Work and Product Development. Lena learned to knit at age five in her hometown of Novosibirsk, Russia. She did not pick up a needle again for 25 years, until she realized her talent for knitting could save her from a frustrating career as a math teacher. She began applying her mathematical mind to the counting of stitches and become expert knitter. In iota she is responsible for the translation of ideas into tangible items.
3Collaboration
We have a clear vision of what our brand stands for and what we believe in. Knowing our values makes it easier for us to align with the right partners. We are always in search for brand collaborations, which will stretch the boarders and be fun and surprising.
Collaborations make creativity, needs, techniques, style, story, and people meet. That is why we love to collaborate- it keeps us courageous and willing to explore outside our comfort zone.
Some of the brands we collaborated with are:
Peugeot Automotive, 2016-2017
Israel Museum of Art, 2017
Tom Dixon, 2017
Max & Co, 2019
Standard Hotel, 2019
Maiyet Collective, 2019
Positive Luxury- Brands to trust, 2019
4Design
iota’s design goal is to challenge the perception of what can be done using hand techniques.
We design innovative products from a traditional starting point.
Inspired by nature, by wandering and Nomads, we find new ways to make crochet cool and to bridge the gap between the old fashioned and today’s lifestyle. We explore the fine lines of the ugly and the beautiful, the boring and the inspirational, the nostalgic and the up to date.
The products have a tactile nature and combine shapes, colors, proportions and textures.
iota’s design fits into the “in-between” spaces of our lives, filling both emotional and practical needs by creating crafted aesthetic pleasures.
We make tradition contemporary.
5Social Impact
iota’s hand work is carried out by women working from their homes. iota’s team teaches them the skill of crochet and provides work for them. We believe in women empowerment and giving back to society.
iota is a social business, both ecologically and socially conscious, with a commitment to sustainability and community support. We work within communities with high rates of unemployment and provide mentoring and training programs. We give our employees the option of working from home and reward them with fair pay, while creating a sense of community and empowerment. iota’s production process is completely transparent, and absolutely condemn child labor and sweat shop environment. In addition, majority of profits from product sales are invested in welfare and educational programs worldwide.
iota has been awarded the “Butterfly Mark” by Positive Luxury for a company-wide commitment to sustainability. Positive Luxury connects mindful luxury brands with a global audience of consumers that care. The interactive Butterfly Mark showcases a company’s positive actions towards people and the planet.
6Textile
iota’s yarns are bespoke, produced from the highest quality materials. They are a new, contemporary interpretation of hand knitted textile and are designed and developed exclusively by the brand.
Textile is one of the tools iota uses for creating innovative design in crochet and expanding the boundaries of the craft, making it cool and relevant. By combining different materials to create yarns, we preserve the strong qualities of each of the component and create new ways to use textile in hand work.
7Preserving Craft
Understanding how something is made, why it’s made that way, is more vital to modern life than ever. Craft is a language of material, provenance and making. It is learning the value of things.
This starting point defines our mission.
iota reinterprets traditional craft in new ways to contemporary innovative design. PRESERVING HAND CRAFTSMANSHIP CAN MAKE A CHANGE.
By using craft in contemporary design, we highlight what is beautiful and irreplaceable in handwork and skill. By designing handmade, one-of-a-kind elements we create products which are timeless, objects which tell a story and encourage more knowledgeable clients. By training and employing more artisans we create diverse job opportunities.
It is political and social – knowing how and where something came into being, makes iota more invested in it, so much so we become more responsible makers.
8Press
Since founded in 2015 iota has appeared in many publications around the world. The combination between a young design brand and a tangible social impact is intriguing to both press and readers. The publications tell the story of iota, through its products, its two founders, its team and studio and its knitting communities. The brands story and different achievements are told in: Maison Cote Sud, Surface Magazine, Design Milk, Gallery (Haaretz) and many others.
