Two young architects, Ljublica and Jelena, are behind the NITI brand. The first one comes from Brus, Serbia, while the other from Podgorica, Montenegro. They met at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. The two then continued their studies in Ljubljana. Jelena later even graduated in Ljubljana, while Ljubica finished her studies in Belgrade. The two started their business path on Instagram. They chose the social network because of its visual nature. Instagram enabled them to offer their products not only to clients in the region, but also connected them with buyers in London, Paris, Oslo, New York, Sydney. "In that way apart from buyers we also received many offers for selling our products in stores across Europe."

NITI inspired by a grandmother
Ljubica learned the basics in weaving by watching her grandmother Milinka, which inspired the creation of the NITI brand. Ljubica's house was always full of kilim carpets and other traditional products and she always had the urge to change things inside the carpets. And now she's able to do that with the help of Jelena, with whom she studied together in Belgrade and Ljubljana. The two now continue on a joint business path. "It's a continuation of our family tradition. The technic of weaving was traditionally passed on from generation to generation. Preserving and reviving our family and cultural heritage is want we want to achieve through NITI."
Apart from having the know-how in using modern tools from promotion and sales purposes, NITI's products rest on the past. The kilims, once part of many homes in the former Yugoslavia, are also a big part of the story. Thanks to brands like Kobeiagi Kilims and NITI, kilims are now back! Both brands have given kilims a breath of modern patterns. The biggest problem Nina and Ivana from Kobeiagi Kilims, and Jelena and Ljubica from NITI face, is finding weavers to make their kilims and blankets. "In the past years weaving as a craft has been vanishing. Considering the fact that we offer blankets and kilims, the most difficult part in the whole process was finding good weavers."
NITI found them in Serbia. They currently weave most of their products in Drgačevo, and would like to start cooperating with weaving associations from Vojvodina and eastern Serbia. "A weaving school is also in our plans in order to ensure continuous quality, help preserve the craft, and employ women in rural areas." Tradition, as well as craft and design, are NITI's trademarks: "We believe that we would all have to respect and guard our tradition. Through our work we try not only to preserve it, but to also give it a new label and show that wool-made products have quality, are healthy and practical."
The biggest demand at the moment is for blankets, and the reason is the big number of blanket models and varieties they offer.