babaà beginnings 

In the twelve years since our launch, babaà has evolved in myriad ways, but our essence remains the same. We built the brand around the core value of sustainability, using only local and natural materials. The reasons were many: It’s good for our planet, it nourishes our local textile industry and, most of all, it is good for our souls as we develop close relationships that are the key to making babaà what it is. We hope you’ll feel this too as you wear our knits.

We have been working with the same Spanish factory and artisans from the very beginning.

The more we work together, the more we realize that the path to a more sustainable world is forged by merging artisanal know-how with the latest technology. This involves maintaining multi-generational attention to craftsmanship while casting off old techniques that aren’t sustainable. Ancient practices did not always take into consideration the issue of toxic byproducts, and often involved questionable chemicals and wasteful methods. We offer the best of both worlds.

Read on to discover more about our processes, partners, and materials.

on design and color

We are deeply inspired by our yarns. We love natural materials and the shape and structure they can create. In knitwear, all you need to begin is the yarn — we see that as a beautiful thing. We work hand-in-hand with Josep at the factory, developing samples and ideas, until we have a clear vision of the garment we want to make. Once we have decided on the style, we begin to consider colors.

The process of creating a color palette is a long one. Mostly inspired by nature and travel (road trips, looking out the window), Marta comes up with ideas for the colors far in advance. Marta takes reference photos with her phone and brings them, along with her notes, to the color lab in Coruña. There, Laura, Rebeca, and Laure interpret the colors. The process usually involves several trials, wherein we try to find the proper light in even our darkest hues.

When we’ve perfected the samples, we run a small test in actual garments, then go to production. At this time, we call on the expertise of Claire Ptack, who comes up with delicious names for our colors: Hibiscus Flower, Alphonso Mango, Summer Flame, and so on. We take our time, as we believe that color is a language unto itself.

But this story goes beyond beautiful hues, materials, and designs. The question of how to produce the highest-quality pieces — that will be durable and even improve with time and wear — remains at the forefront of our minds always.

our family run factory

We are extremely proud of our family-run factory, which is based in Barcelona. It is owned and operated by Josep, a second-generation knitter with a deep knowledge of and interest in the latest knitwear technology and design, alongside his wife Carola and his sister Eva.

The factory was founded in the 1980s by Josep’s dad, Salvador, and has maintained its unmatched reputation by consistently producing garments of the highest quality.

Each babaà piece is knitted using the very best Japanese knitting machines (which are overseen by Francisco) and then assembled by hand by a team of amazing women with a lifetime of experience.

These women are specialists in their trade and each has a specific craft: Some are trained in pressing, some in assembling necklines, and so on. They always have a needle in hand, and we love watching them work. Such skilled and knowledgeable tradespeople are rare gems in today’s textile business, and we treasure their expertise. When the knits are finished, our quality control team, led by Rosa, uses special lamps to spot any imperfections.

We love our team and thank them every day for making babaà with such care and dedication year after year.

custom-made yarn

Creating our own yarn takes a lot of work, but it also allows us to control the production process from the sheep to the final stitch. We know everyone involved on a personal level and are able to provide our customers with full transparency.

about our flock

Sheep in Spain have a very good life. At least, ours do. We adhere to a process called Transhumance, which is a type of pastoralism or nomadism comprising seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In mountainous regions, it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower valleys in winter. This is not only great for the animals, as they spend the majority of their lives outdoors, but also great for the environment. It enhances fire prevention (the sheep eat many weeds that are potential fodder for wildfires) and the steppe ecosystem, enriches fallow land (thus making it farmable once again), and helps maintain alpine areas.

There are lots of traditions and fiestas involved in looking after the sheep in many areas of Spain — between Transhumance and shearing — and we try to participate in at least one of these every year.

One of our top priorities is knowing that our sheep have a happy and humane life, and we love supporting shepherds who share these values. An added benefit of Transhumance is one we can feel — because our sheep are outdoors year-round, their fleece is extra-warm, which is exactly what we want in our wool.

meet our shepherds 

​We collaborate with many shepherds in the north of Spain. Last summer, we visited Faustino in León. Faustino and his dog, a beautiful Spanish Mastiff, look after many of our sheep.

We are close to many of our shepherds, but also have a manager, Santiago, who helps us maintain our working relationship with them. Santiago is an integral part of our process and he has been with babaà since the beginning. He helps us manage the yarn and the various different tradespeople involved in its production: shepherds, farmers, the staff at the mill.

Santiago has been working this job since he was a child, having learned his trade from his father. (Marta’s grandmother used to send her wool to Santiago´s dad to process and turn into thick wool blankets; she still owns a few with her initials on them.) This is more than wool — it’s a family tradition.

local cotton production

Our cotton comes from the south of Spain, mainly from Sevilla and its surroundings. The cotton harvest in Spain is very small but significant and well-known internationally for its exceptional quality. Cotton throughout the EU is subject to many environmental regulations to avoid water waste and excessive use of pesticides.

​Most years we go south to attend the October harvest. We love seeing firsthand that there is no plastic involved in the process — including storage — and that the seeds are re-used in the following harvest. Our kids love climbing up the pillowy piles of cotton and helping with the collection using real muslin bags.

our beloved mills

The wool arrives at the mill already cleaned and graded, sorted by color and quality. Here we see Miguel’s mill in Leon – it was the very first mill we used for all our un-dyed wool. We now work with bigger mills too, as our production of wool and cotton keeps growing.

Miguel set up this mill 40 years ago with his wife, and his son now ​​helps him run it. At the mills, our undyed fleece (which comes in five colors, dependent on the shade of the fleece and how we combine it) is carded and spun by whirring machines. The process is very beautiful to see.

Finally, all spun yarn is sorted in cones and is ready for knitting!

the dyeing process

Traditional artisan dyeing practices are often not the most eco-friendly. We want what’s best for the environment, so after years of research we ended up in La Coruña in Northern Spain, in a factory that has developed the most sustainable large-scale production around. We have been working together for two years, and continue to improve and innovate every day.

We went to Valencia to see where they make all the machinery and met the textile engineer, Begonia, who is in charge of all developments. That was how we started our cotton dyeing journey two years ago, and now we are ready to launch our new dyed wool clothing too!

We are committed to finding the most eco-friendly ways to dye our garments. Our technique uses 60% less water than the industry standard, and involves no bleaching and no toxic waste.

We are excited to have found the proper technology to fulfill our sustainability vision, and are optimistic about an even more eco-friendly future.

behind our bags

We have worked with Jesus since we started babaà. He was Marta’s screen-printing teacher many years ago when she was pursuing her MA in Textile and Surface Design at Instituto
Europeo de Diseño. We buy all our bags from a very traditional Madrid-based company and send them straight to Jesus, who lives and works out of a space in the Lavapiés neighborhood.

We truly treasure the opportunity to work locally and build relationships with our community year after year. These partnerships are an integral part of babaà, and we hope you will cherish your cardigan or crewneck sweater even more knowing a bit of the background about the people (and animals!) that brought it to life.

We love babaà and everyone involved — we think you’ll love it too.