House style

Beautiful last-minute presents with a social conscience

Gifts with a social conscience

FOR THOSE IN SEARCH of a last-minute Christmas gift with a difference, the homewares from Ishkar (ishkar.com), a shop set up to support craftspeople in conflict zones, could hit the spot.

Founders Edmund le Brun and Flore de Taisne launched the business after working in Afghanistan – for the NGO Turquoise Mountain and on consultancy projects for the World Bank and the UN, respectively. ‘The situation of crafts in places like Afghanistan and Syria is really precarious,’ says Le Brun. ‘There’s a very real danger they could die out.’

The glassware is blown at the one remaining workshop in Herat, using centuries-old techniques, and features jewel tones made from quartz and natural oxides. The kilims are handwoven in northern Afghanistan – and reasonably priced (£375 each, pictured right), considering each strand of wool is individually handspun. Both are also proof of Le Brun and de Taisne’s commitment to keeping ancient skills alive through modern design, ‘They’re not just Western designs being produced in another country, but a conversation between designers and makers,’ says Le Brun.

Closer to home, Aerende (aerende. co.uk), recently set up by former travel editor Emily Mathieson, sells products made in the UK by people facing social challenges who have difficulty finding or maintaining regular work – for example, refugees and those with physical disabilities and mental illness. Mathieson envisaged the company as ‘a very small, independent department store’: so far, products include organic-cotton towels, chunky ceramics and wooden kitchenware (pictured left).