Israeli Woven Fabric Production – The Full Story

For me, the words “Made in Israel” and the “Blue and White” label became a goal. So I began searching for a way to weave babywearing fabric locally. I immersed myself in information about Israeli weaving mills, investigating, researching, and asking endless questions. People suggested producing the fabric in China, the Palestinian territories, India, or Russia, but I refused to believe it couldn’t be done in Israel…

Eventually, I managed to get the phone numbers of all the weaving mills still operating in the country (a whopping… three!!!). I began meeting their owners and discovered the sad story of Israel’s textile industry. It turned out that about 15 years earlier, there had been more than 30 factories in Israel producing fabrics of excellent quality. Most had international reputations and substantial turnover.

Unfortunately, production had moved to China, Turkey, and India because of cheaper labor and lower taxes. Only about four factories remained in Israel, able to compete thanks to technically complex fabrics and advanced chemical development. They produced antibacterial and fire-resistant fabrics, materials that allowed air to pass through but blocked water, and “breathable” foam.

But let’s get back to our story.

Eight years ago, the owner of one of these factories agreed to produce a fabric sample for me (despite the lack of suitable raw materials and my insistence on environmentally friendly production). The samples were wonderful, but a little too rough, so I decided not to continue at that time.

Seven years passed. Throughout that time, one thing continued to bother us: although we used the best fabrics available for our Mei Tai carriers, those fabrics came from Italy, Turkey, Germany, and elsewhere — but not from Israel.

So, a few months ago, we began experimenting with weaving, aiming to create a high-quality, eco-friendly, breathable, soft, and strong fabric. In short, the best possible fabric for baby carriers — one you would love to wrap your baby in.

It took time, a great deal of thought, experiments, calculations, and measurements… And despite the initial challenges (a lack of raw materials, suitable yarns, and colored yarn), the fabrics turned out beautifully in terms of quality, support, adjustability, and thickness… In short, in every way. What’s more, the light-colored fabrics are 100% eco-friendly, made from natural, unbleached cotton. The yarns used in the colored carriers are dyed using a special process that makes them resistant to chlorine. This makes the carrier useful for all kinds of purposes (even cleaning).

So, here’s the bottom line: this Monday, we began working on our pilot project — our first Israeli production run of woven baby carriers in five colors and eight patterns. The first collection will be a silver collection.

Wish us luck! I’ll be sharing sneak peeks from the production site, beautiful fabric samples, and special introductory prices for all our products (long woven wraps, Mei Tai carriers, and ring slings) made from Israeli-woven fabric.

Here is a short story about the Israeli textile industry:

Warning! A link to a fascinating video.

Author: Alina Ilievsky