Kati Kaia

The artwork is not decoration added once the functional object has been designed. It is where the product begins.

Kati's paintings emerge from experiences, emotion and the natural world. Komorebi, for example, developed from watching sunlight move through the trees outside her window.

The originals are captured at high resolution and translated onto the mats with attention to preserving their depth, movement and tonal character.

There is something lovely about the resulting contradiction: the original creative act is singular, but the finished object is made to be used repeatedly, stepped on, moved across and incorporated into everyday ritual.

The mat becomes a canvas for practice.

A yoga mat creates a small physical environment around the person using it.

Kati Kaia has considered grip, touch, movement, colour and material as parts of that environment. The performance surface is designed to increase grip as heat builds, while deliberately avoiding the kind of excessive grip that can encourage dependence on the mat rather than control through the body itself.

The natural-rubber base, recycled performance surface and non-toxic material choices form part of the same consideration.

It is an object designed to support a practice rather than become the focus of it.

The base of each mat is made from natural tree rubber, while the performance layer uses recycled PET. Kati Kaia reports using water-based non-toxic inks and heat-welded construction rather than adhesive bonding.

The assessment also examined what happens around the product: manufacturing standards, factory oversight, quality control, packaging, durability and the relationship with suppliers.

Mats are designed for repeated use, are machine washable and undergo testing for grip, bonding and durability. The brand also supports conservation through Rainforest Trust and reports offsetting delivery-related carbon through its ecommerce programme.

No physical product is without consequence. What matters is whether those consequences have been considered beyond the most visible sustainability claims.

Here, there is evidence that they have.