Diana Farah
DUBAI: Life of Loofah, a brand that incorporates loofahs in household items and apparel, is expanding in Saudi Arabia, with multiple exhibitions in the Kingdom.
Noor Taan, founder of Life of Loofah, spoke to Arab News Japan about her time in Saudi, where she exhibited some of her unique pieces.
“I was a one-woman show, making my way to Riyadh in hopes of exhibiting my pieces to the audience there,” Taan said.
The artist’s first exhibition was at the Atrum Healing Exhibition, which is headed by Saudi’s Princess Sara Sultan.
“My kaftan kimono, which features loofah lapels, gained a lot of attention during that visit,” Taan explained, adding that she was impressed by the “power of Saudi women,” who had leadership roles throughout the exhibition.
Taan also exhibited her loofah pieces at Diriyah’s Biennale Design Store, where she designed a series of lamps especially for the occasion.
“The series of lamps was named ‘Noor Hayati,’ or Light of My Life, and officially features the first products of my Life of Loofah brand,” she said.
“I was inspired by the large variety of people who were present, and it was an honor to have people from all over the world, including Japan, see my work,” Taan added.
Taan, who studied in Japan, said that her pieces were some of the only ones that were 100 percent sustainable.
The lamps in Taan’s collection are named wabi sabi, truffle, Al Ful (Jasmine), and Al Zanjabeel (Ginger).
Life of Loofah is expected to launch this summer, with shipping and delivery all over the GCC region.
Taan told Arab News Japan that with each order will comes two loofah seeds and a QR code which will direct customers on how they can plant them and how to care for them.
She added that she is looking forward to going back to Japan and seeing how she can merge loofahs with tech.
Read more: Noor Taan: Lebanese designer weaving sustainability into style with loofahs and Japanese inspiration