The Journal · Workshop
How do you take a pattern designed to cover the wall of a riad and turn it into an eleven-centimetre object held in the hand all day? That question is where ITRI began — and the one we ask with every new colourway.
Everything starts with a traditional composition: a star, an interlace, a grid of furmah. We redraw it entirely, line by line, so it stays sharp once reduced. A mural zellige pattern spans several metres; on an iPhone case, the same geometry must convince at thirty centimetres from the eye. Proportions are reworked, colours recalibrated — the final varnish restores the depth of enamel.
Each piece is printed and assembled to order, in Europe, within 24 to 48 hours. No sleeping stock, no destroyed unsold goods: nothing is produced that was not asked for. The case itself is dual-material — rigid shell, shock-absorbing frame — MagSafe-compatible on iPhone and magnetic on Samsung Galaxy, from S23 to S26.
An ITRI colourway never exists alone: it comes as an iPhone case, a Samsung case, an AirPods Max cover, an AirPods case and a ring holder. The Zellige Kora collection, our latest, counts eleven numbered colourways — from deep blue to emerald green — all drawn from the same geometric grid. The latest, No.10 and No.11, are its best illustration.
Zellige has always been an architect's art: it dresses what we inhabit. We only moved the question — dressing what we carry.
No — and we insist on saying so: true zellige is hand-cut ceramic, impossible to carry on a phone case. Our patterns are drawn after traditional compositions, then printed in high definition under a gloss varnish that recalls the depth of enamel.
iPhone 12 through 17 with MagSafe, Samsung Galaxy S23 through S26 in magnetic version, plus AirPods, AirPods Max and a ring holder.
Barely: each piece is produced within 24 to 48 hours in Europe then shipped, with free standard delivery to France and Morocco.
The high-definition print sits under a gloss varnish that resists everyday friction; the pattern does not fade over the months.
