In the second half of the 18th century, an entrepreneur from northern Turkey, an Armenian and my relative, Paschalis Jakubowicz, came to Poland. He set up weaving workshops in Lipków near Warsaw, where he produced kontusz sashes and various decorative fabrics. Family conversations over dinner about the ties between the Zambrzycki and Jakubowicz families eventually turned into a passion for the art of the Orient. Many journeys along the Silk Road and years spent in the East — from Turkey, Persia, and Central Asia to the Caucasus — led to the revival of our family's weaving tradition. My wife and I decided to open the Persjarnia, especially since the production of sashes and decorative fabrics, once so deeply connected with Polish clothing and interior design, had stopped over a hundred years ago. What makes kontusz sashes truly unique is that they have no "wrong side." With three warps (black, white, and red) and six wefts, it’s possible to blend colors and recreate historical patterns — the so-called double-sided and four-sided designs.

The stories told at sunday dinners about history of Zambrzycki and Jakubowicz families resulted with passion for Oriental Art. Frequent travels along the Silk Route and years spent in the Orient (from Persia, Caucasus to Central Asia) resulted in reviving the family tradition of manufacturing fabrics. Considering that over 100 years nobody makes the kontush sashes, my Wife and I, we decided to open a Persjarnia.

The sashes are double sided fabrics, which allows to achieve so called four sided design (sash was folded in half and could be worn in four different ways facing the viewer.

Access to private and museum collections in many countries (USA, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Canada, UK, Switzerland) made it easier for us to recreate historical patterns.

Natural silk is an expensive material, and we wanted to recreate traditional fabrics and make them affordable, so they could come back to the homes of the wide public and be used every day instead of just on special occasions. The priority was to concentrate on reproducing the visual aspects to the last detail, so we chose the high quality material that does a good job pretending to be silk, and still keeps the price on the affordable level.

In the end we mixed natural fiber (the sash must be “breathing”) and some synthetic (prevents from deformation).

Our sashes are easy to tie, they look excellent, are comfortable to wear. They easily wash in a regular washing machine in the temperature NO HOTTER THAN 40C (104 F). You can iron our fabrics with a steam generator or with a regular steam iron set to temperature no higher than SILK (148 oC or 300 OF).

Our fabrics are ready to serve you faithfully for a long time.