A visit to Julia’s Astreou Christoforou Atelier In the context of the Leonardo da Vinci program “Fashion with traditional aspects”, students of Fashion department of Larnaca Technical school visited Julia’s Astreou Atelier in Nicosia.

Julia was the textiles advisor for two films on traditional Cypriot weaving and Lefkara lace (“Weaving Ladies of Cyprus” [2008] and “Lefkara Lace” [2012]). Her enthusiasm for traditional Cypriot textiles led to the creation of the Cyprus Textile Route website and booklet, created in cooperation with the European Textile Network Julia Astreou Christoforou is a textile designer (specializing in woven textiles), artist and researcher based in Nicosia. She previously worked at the Cyprus Handicraft Service for 21 years and has done extensive research on Cypriot textiles

Julia's workspace and showroom is based in a 19th century house - a fine example of traditional local architecture, which has been in the family for six generations. A visit to Julia’s Astreou Christoforou Atelier

Some of the characteristics of the building are linked to the biographies of its previous occupants. A few of these occupants were dominant local figures, construction builders, experienced weavers, embroiderers and dressmakers. A visit to Julia’s Astreou Christoforou Atelier

Handwoven textiles are transformed by Julia into quality clothing and accessories such as lampshades, shawls, cushion covers and handbags. A visit to Julia’s Astreou Christoforou Atelier

Julia creates contemporary woven textiles on her four traditional Cypriot looms. A visit to Julia’s Astreou Christoforou Atelier

Despite the fact that hand weaving is a long and laborious process, it allows for interesting ways to interact with the materials. A visit to Julia’s Astreou Christoforou Atelier

Julia welcomes weaving enthusiasts to her workshop to learn hand weaving and in so doing helps keep this ancient craft alive. A visit to Julia’s Astreou Christoforou Atelier She offers traditional weaving lessons yet also encourages students to experiment with their own designs.

The workshop, with its four traditional looms (all from different areas of the island) and its range of old and contemporary fabrics, is a showroom of Cypriot textile heritage. A visit to Julia’s Astreou Christoforou Atelier

See more about here and her work here Julia's online shop can be found on treou?ref=si_shop treou?ref=si_shop