TIMELESS INNOVATION
Burel Factory is a Portuguese brand born in 2010 with the mission of reviving the mountain heritage of burel fabric, which the imminent bankruptcy of a factory threatened to end. The rescue of an ancient art and the ingenuity of its people, guardians of this ancient legacy. Today, the brand brings sustainable design, conscious production, and industry, while respecting nature, the mountain and the culture within.
Burel is the most typical fabric of the Serra da Estrela Mountain Range, made of 100% wool which, after being trodden, thumped, and boiled, becomes denser, with a greater versatility and overall resistance. An ancient fabric of shepherds that, through the knowledge of the masterful hands of its people, preserved it through time, to become a Portuguese cultural landmark, synonymous with culture, industry, prosperity, sustainability, creativity, and future.
In the recovering intervention, it was important to save that historical heritage of ancestral looms and 19th century machines, as well as the local people, who knew how to operate them. But it was as important to keep the story alive, as it was to give it a relevant continuity, which is why the Burel Factory soon began to create strong design proposals with burel taking the centre stage. Up until then, burel was a monochromatic fabric, but the brand quickly gave it new contemporary colors and innovative designs. Soon later, it certified its acoustic properties to find innovative ways for its application, as is the case of interior architecture. Nowadays, Burel Factory showcases at major international fairs, gathers designers, architects, and creatives that, together with the historical legacy of loom masters, find surprising and original proposals.
Burel Factory represents a lifestyle. A legacy of the past applied to the present, to be synonymous with the future. Always with the mission to promote the Serra da Estrela region and take Portuguese design to the world. It sees sustainability as one of its pillars, with its zero-waste policy and recycling standards, which guaranteed the RCS (Recycled Claim Standard) Certification, proving Burel’s continued commitment to reduce its environmental impact.