The Malaga-based company that produces handmade tiles for Zara Home

Todobarro, a tile company founded in 2009 by Pedro Rosa from Malaga, is committed to reinventing the typical traditional clay tile from Vélez-Málaga on the eastern Costa del Sol, by giving it new shapes, colours and uses. Its latest conquest is Zara Home, the Inditex chain store brand specialising in home décor, which has more than 400 shops in around 60 countries and reaches customers in more than 180 markets through its online shop.

When the international brand contacted Todobarro looking for an Andalusian 'atelier' who still used the traditional ceramic tiles of Vélez-Málaga, where they still have their tile factory, they were "surprised" but didn't think twice.

In fact it was not the first time that Inditex has turned to Todobarro: over the years, Zara and Zara Home have used tiles from the Malaga-based company to decorate several of their offices, and they have even decorated their first cafeteria, Zacaffè, from floor to ceiling with the company's tiles. But this time the invitation was to sell Todobarro's handmade Malaga creations all over the world.

"That call was very exciting for the whole team, but it also intimidated us: could we reach the level of demand of a giant like Zara Home, making our products by hand?" explained Samuel Vega, Todobarro's marketing manager, in a press statement about that first contact.

The answer came to fruition on Wednesday 4 June, when the two sets of tiles made from white fired clay and clay chamotte were produced. The first is dark brown with a glossy finish and the second is ecru, with some pieces in a matte finish and others in a glossy finish. Each set consists of 50 square pieces measuring 9.7x97 centimetres that, in total, cover 0.5 square metres and are suitable for any interior wall.

"The beauty of each piece reflects the care and craftsmanship that goes into its production," Zara Home has said. In fact, its design managers visited the tile factory and were impressed by the fact that absolutely everything is made by hand following traditional processes, so that even the boxes in which the tiles are placed are assembled and filled by hand.

"Thanks to their combinable design, both sets allow you to create multiple compositions and personalised patterns. The natural variations in colour, shape and texture of each piece enhance the authenticity of the set and open the way to unique designs, ideal for projects that seek an original finish with character," continue Zara Home.

In fact, these tiles, whose colours were created exclusively for the Inditex brand, differ from each other due to the work involved in their creation. "The Zara Home design team was very open to listening to us, and from the very beginning understood the advantages and limitations of developing a handmade product. But the process was challenging: we came up with more than 50 unique colours and numerous combinations of finishes for the glazed tiles until we found the colours that ended up in the sets," explained the marketing manager.

The effort, however, has been worth it: "For us, it is confirmation that there is still room for craftsmanship. A collaboration of this magnitude tells us that research and innovation in craftsmanship is a long way off," Vega added.

Todobarro combines innovation and tradition, using methods that respect the traditional ceramic craft and combining them with contemporary aesthetics and signature designs. For this reason, its pieces, used by renowned architects and interior designers, can be seen in the Google offices in Malaga, and decorate Acqua di Parma shops around the world, among many other projects, have been catalogued as 'neoartesanía del barro' (clay neo-craftsmanship).

The company exports its creations all over the world, trying to limit its carbon footprint as much as possible during the entire work process. To this end, it uses local raw materials, avoids single-use plastics and implements circular economy strategies, such as using returnable wooden boxes for its shipments or using pruning waste from the Vélez area to light its oven, which works exactly as it did millennia ago.

In addition, Todobarro has an research and development department dedicated to the development of sustainable projects such as Bioecorest, which is investigating how to use the dredging of the Guadalquivir port to reintroduce native vegetation on the banks of the river and in Doñana, and is working to recover the endemic algae on the beaches of Vélez-Málaga using clay moulds.