Labour of love
All ames products are developed and made in true partnership with local artesanos and artesanas, the Colombian craftspeople. Their skills, care and knowledge ensure that every ames product is finished with exceptional quality.
As they only manufacture in small, family-owned ateliers, they also work with their partners to minimise their environmental impact. Raw materials are sourced mostly from the country, the PVC strings for our furniture are made from recycled plastic and all fabric dyes only include natural pigments.
Colourful weaving
The weaving technique the Colombian artesanos and artesanas use to create our Cielo, Caribe and Cartaganes furniture pieces is called “momposino”. This method is especially popular in the Santa Marta region on the Caribbean coast. The coloured strings are made from recycled PVC and are woven by hand around a fire-galvanised steel frame, creating different patterns.
Ancient pottery crafts
Ames collaborates for the production of all ceramics with two family-owned businesses based in Tolima. This province has been a centre for pottery making and ceramic production in Colombia for more than 300 years. Their workshops employ more than 70 people, many of them are family members, with specialists for each production stage – from clay digging to kiln firing to polishing.
One of the few tools the makers use - most of the work is done by hand - are corn husks. Once water and clay have been mixed, the mixture is simply left to dry in the sun. This natural process requires stable weather conditions and air temperatures of more than 35 degrees Celsius. The dark glaze is applied to the vases before they go into a kiln that’s fired by wood. As the last step, the pieces are polished with semi-precious stones to create a subtle shimmer.
