OUR PEOPLE

At Urban Island, we are committed to working towards a fair, decent, and balanced world.

At the heart of this vision live the artisans whose handcrafting skills have been passed down for generations. Their craft is both their way of life and their means of income.

For some, weaving is a meditation; for others, hand dyeing is a source of communal action and connection.

Samangalika and Shama transitioned from farming to collaborate with us as skilled candlemakers, helping supplement their families’ declining incomes. Soap maker Sunitha supports three generations within her family, while her colleague Rajanayake provides the primary income for her household.

Their lives — and many others — are now filled with renewed pride and purpose.

As we grow internationally, we are also beginning to build respectful collaborative relationships with Indigenous and local creative communities in Canada, with the intention of developing future co-created collections that honour cultural knowledge and contemporary design.

Visit us on Instagram @urbanisland_official where you will meet our people, one story at a time.

 

OUR PLANET

We believe every decision we make should contribute to a better world.

A dedicated team works closely with our artisan partners to create products using methods and materials that honour tradition while advancing sustainability — from recycling materials and reducing waste to promoting efficient, low-impact production and transportation.

The modern polyester yarns once used by the weavers of Gampaha are now being thoughtfully replaced with traditional cotton yarns. We are proud of our natural dyes and of our soaps and candles made from sustainable materials in the gardens and kitchens of skilled female artisans in the villages of Mandaram Nuwara.

Our Palmyrah products are sustained entirely by nature’s cycle — raw material harvested from fallen fronds in the North of Sri Lanka and transformed by local hands into striking design elements for the contemporary home.

As our ecosystem expands across Canada and Sri Lanka, we continue to map and strengthen responsible supply chains that support both cultural preservation and future-facing sustainable design.

 

Our highly skilled weaver Hiroshi says:

“When I weave the fabric for a throw, I almost feel the rhythm of the pattern in my entire body.”

The way you live is the way you give — and you feel it in all our products.