Today we take you on a unique tour of the workshop of one of our jewelry designers, Alba Gutiérrez, founder of the Ïzza brand and creator of all the creations on this page.

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Can you first introduce yourself and your background?

My name is Alba; I am an artisan, designer and creator of the IZZA brand.

After working all my life in the world of interpretation and being dedicated body and soul to music, I embarked on this journey to continue transmitting my concerns to the general public through another artistic branch with which I have always been in contact, since my childhood.

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I started in the world of crafts at the age of 9, at the hands of the master potter Rafael Arana in his workshop in Cabezón de la Sal.
Ceramics have always fascinated me, but it was not until 2008 (when I moved to Galicia) when I became really interested in handicrafts.
I studied Ancient Luthery at the School of Arts and Crafts of Vigo (EMAO) with the teacher Ramón Casal and I also received classes in Technical Drawing and Acoustics Applied to the Construction of Musical Instruments here.
With the Obradoiro Sanín (Santiago de Compostela), later, I had the opportunity to travel to numerous artisan fairs and also through the Fundación Artesanía de Galicia I shared experiences with other artisans and learned new creative techniques.
In 2013 I decided to create my own company dedicated to traditional crafts based on working with the different materials that I got to know and that lasted several years, until I was recycled.

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Where are you from?

I was born in Cantabria, a small and beautiful region in the north of Spain with thousands of years of history. My ancestors have origins in the Pasiegos valleys and the Nansa region.

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How did you come up with the idea of founding ÏZZA?

In 2016 I traveled to Morocco for the first time, a really welcoming country. Since I was a child I was passionate about Arab culture and it was lucky that the possibility of traveling there arose. Subsequently, I resumed visits from time to time and traveled hundreds of kilometers getting to know small towns: wonderful people and places.

In my travels, there was always something that caught my attention: motifs of Berber origin appeared before me drawn on the walls, on the traditional ceramics, on the rugs... but also on the faces of the oldest women in the rural villages. Many of them had their foreheads, chins and cheeks tattooed with very special designs in bluish tones.

This really caught my attention and made me wonder the reason for this tradition. I loved the geometric shapes and minimalist lines of each of these tattoos, but especially the fact that each design told a story. Unfortunately, I found that it is an ancient tradition that is being lost and women are gradually moving away from this custom.

As a result of that, I became more interested in Berber culture, to the point of discovering certain ethnographic works related to the Berber origin of some towns in Spain. And that's where I really saw the exciting connection between the Berbers and myself. This inspired me a lot and helped me unravel the tangle of information and passion that I was immersed in.

After doing a lot of research on the meaning of Berber symbols and tattoos, I wanted to transcribe these patterns into new pieces to publicize this potentially lost tradition.

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And that's when you created Ïzza?

It really was a few years later. I lived several months in Istanbul (a cyclone for the senses and where a lover of history like me would go crazy…). There I also met wonderful artisans, continued learning and perfecting techniques, and made great friends who told me exciting stories about this incredible country.

Upon my return, in 2020, it was when I really began to develop the idea of a project where ancestral cultures were disseminated through crafts and where I began to create my own pieces based on Mediterranean symbology; first with materials that I had already worked on in my previous brand, then I found myself, developing my style and my universe and here we are now: I created my own workshop and today I try to continue this tradition that is lost in all kinds of jewelry, fashion and decorative objects.

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Where does the name of your brand come from?

From the beginning, I gave my collections female given names of Amazigh, Kurdish or Turkish women, as a tribute to such an important female figure in traditional culture.

By chance I came across ÏZZA: this name comes from Kabylian and means "what is born from the ground, what is planted". There is nothing that better reflects what I want to convey.

 

What values do you want to convey through your brand?

First, through limited series, I want to avoid mass production. That all my products have a speck of affection from having passed through my hands, and above all, that they transfer a message that was already transmitted in the elaboration of the artisan pieces of our countries for centuries.

They are pieces with great symbolism and that reflect our miscegenation.

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How do you define Ïzza's style?

For me, Ïzza is above all design coupled with tradition and free character, which is the basis of primitive cultures. Unlike traditional objects (which are my reference), I choose simple patterns that I combine with colors according to the meaning I want to convey, to add a touch of originality and modernity.

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So with the color combinations, do you follow a pattern?

Colors have so many meanings! Many messages were sent with colors and each culture had its own. If we look at the rugs or the tapestries, they are encrypted messages with an extraordinary background.

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Tell us a little now about your products, how are they?

All my jewelry is made in my workshop in raw brass, stainless steel or silver for the vast majority of the pieces, to then be gilded with fine gold (1 micron).

The glass used is always hand-woven or loom-woven Czech glass.

I also make textiles, baskets, pompoms and cotton or wool tassels.

Raw materials such as wool, leather or silk are produced in small family artisan workshops in Algeria, Morocco or Turkey.

I love natural stones and natural materials such as leather or ceramics and they are almost always present in the collections.

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How long does it take to make one of your jewelry?

It varies a lot from one piece to another, but in general what takes me the longest are the earrings: sometimes they can take up to 4 hours of work depending on the fabric chosen.

The baskets, plates and decorative objects take more than 12 hours.

And what we often forget is the work behind a piece: the search for materials and information, the manufacture of trimmings (which I almost always do by hand in my workshop), the preparation and elaboration of each design; first with the sketches and then the entire logistics process until it reaches the client. 

But it's also what makes our job exciting because it's so comprehensive!

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What are your sources of inspiration for your collections?

Mainly the symbols, each one of them shows me a way... if a symbol pleases me, I know that I will find the inspiration to highlight it.

I tend to have way too many crushes! So I try not to go on too long.

I have so many ideas that I don't have enough time to carry them all out.

 

Can you detail the manufacturing steps of one of your pieces?

I choose my set of colors, the symbols or the theme in question; then I sketch the pieces and try different combinations. Little by little I associate pearls, crystals, various materials...

And once everything is ready, I do the elaboration.

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How do you choose the artisans you work with?

The Berber artisans I work with are mostly women. Being a woman from a rural environment and an artisan gave me the idea of creating a brand that represented artisan women from different countries but with a common inspiration in the traditional. Work together for the dissemination of the traditions of our people, using quality raw materials and totally traditional techniques, inherited from generation to generation.​

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What are your tips for caring for your jewelry?

Other than pure gold, all metals and crystals change with time and use.

That is why I advise, to prolong its useful life, to avoid all contact with perfumes, water or any other liquid product. If possible, I also recommend storing them in a bag or box that preserves their shine and natural state.

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A few words about your experience?

Traveling through Morocco, Algeria or Turkey is what has forged me as a person and what has given me inspiration in my artisan work, which I had been doing for years. Since I was little I had contact with the traditions of my people and that is how other women around the world have also inherited it. In short, we are not different. Learning and sharing is the basis for forging a healthy society without prejudice.

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