‘Crin’ Baskets — Maker Moments

The 'Crin' baskets a collaboration between Chilean designer Isabel Lecaros and Maestra Madre de Rari, a collective of 16 craftswomen from a village in the Maule Region of southern Chile.

The project came about in 2017 when Isabel met some of the women in Santiago, where they were selling small, colourful decorative objects made from crin (horsehair). Lecaros was interested in how they used this traditional style of weaving and, after being invited to the village to meet with the other artisans, he suggested working with them to explore the possibilities of this craft.

Through conversations with the artisans, Isabel discovered a rich history of weaving from the region. She learned how before using horsehair, women from the Region worked with fibres taken from the roots of the willow and poplar trees found on river banks. This material was less malleable and was traditionally used to make baskets. With the increase of agricultural production in the region, water contamination led to a dramatic reduction in material availability. And in turn, leading the artisans to switch to horsehair. Using Crin as a fibre offered greater flexibility, which allowed for a greater variety of shapes.

In this project, Isabel and the artisans took inspiration from the pre-horsehair baskets while innovating in size ('crin' is typically used to make miniatures). Isabel was keen to experiment with using the material in its natural state, with only a few accents of colour in selected pieces. Artisans also explored new design possibilities by combining black, brown and white horsehair in the same basket. The project has had international success, and the baskets have exhibited in design fairs in Milan, Italy.