Benaki Shop, a pioneer in preserving and revitalizing Greek craftsmanship, is proud to present HACKING PASSEMENTERIE, an innovative collaboration between Rare Encounters Studio and the Benaki Museum’s ‘NEMA’ Passementerie, the only operational manufactury of passementerie products in Greece today, using traditional methods.

HACKING PASSEMENTERIE is a project that aims to increase visibility and connection with this disappearing weaving craft of the textile industry. The passementerie craft entails the making of elaborate trimmings such as tassels, braids, ornamental cords, fringes, galloons, rosettes and gimp. The products are woven in looms combining principles of weaving and knitting. HACKING PASSEMENTERIE invites creatives to learn the craft, collaborate and produce contemporary artefacts, including materials and new tools.

In collaboration with ‘NEMA’s craftsmen, the designer duo Alexandros Kotoulas and Foteini Mermiga (Rare Encounters Studio), embarked on an extensive process of hacking the principles of passementerie and pushing the boundaries of the traditional machinery. Their research led them to a series of experimental samples that they will present in this year’s edition of Salone del Mobile in Milano, Italy (18 – 23 April 2023).

Rare Encounters Studio hopes to inspire and motivate fellow designers and artists to engage with the intricate looms and processes to help maintain and expand the invaluable art form knowledge gathered over centuries. With HACKING PASSEMENTERIE, the designers hope to contribute to the wider narratives of protecting craft heritage and the role of the contemporary designer.

*The project was selected and funded by the WORTH Partnership Project II, an EU programme that creates and supports transnational collaborations between designers, creative people, manufacturing enterprises (SMEs), crafters/makers and technology firms looking to develop design-driven and innovative products.