What Bokja is known for

Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri founded Bokja in Beirut in 2000, naming it after the embroidered velvet wrapping that once held a bride's dowry. The studio repairs mid-century furniture frames found in Beirut flea markets and covers them in Levantine and Silk Road textiles, some a century old. Quilts, headboards, tapestries, ready-to-wear now sit alongside the furniture. Local artisans do the work, and a share of proceeds goes to women's organisations.

Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri joined forces in Beirut in 2000, and the studio still prints that year under its own name. Hibri had sold antique furniture and Baroudi had collected old tapestries and textiles on every trip abroad. The name they chose is an old Turkish word for the embroidered velvet wrapping that held a bride's dowry. The method follows from both halves of that partnership. Bokja finds furniture frames from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s in Beirut flea markets and antique dealerships, repairs them and then covers them in textiles from the Levant and the Silk Road countries of Central Asia. Uzbek fabrics, Damascene brocade and Chinese silk end up on the same frame, and a single chair can carry more than twenty patterns. Some of the embroideries are a century old. The studio employs local artisans and gives a share of proceeds to organisations working with women. The range now runs past furniture into quilts, headboards, tapestries, ready-to-wear and accessories, with pieces sold as artistic interventions. Christian Louboutin took Bokja furniture into his own shoe boutiques after visiting the Beirut studio.