Both Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay born in Tel aviv in 1976 and attended the MA Royal College of Art in 2006. Their official collaboration started after many years of sharing life, thoughts and ideas. Yael’s main focus includes turning two-dimensional sheet materials into functional forms, whereas Shay is fascinated by how things move, function and react. Under the name of “Raw-Edges” they share a common desire to create objects that have never been seen before. Raw-Edges received several highly respected awards including The British Council Talented Award, iF Gold Award, Dutch Design Award, Wallpaper Design Award in 2009 and the Elle Decoration International Design Award for best furniture of 2008/09. Most recent one, the Designer of the Future Award for 2009 from Design Miami-Basel. Their works have been exhibited at Johnson Trading Gallery in New York, FAT Galerie in Paris, Scope Art Fair in Basel and in the Spazio Rossana Orlandi of Milan. Their designs can be found in the permanent collection of the MoMa of New-York and The Design Museum of London, and in production with Established & Sons and Arco. Yael and Shay are also involved in producing unique and limited-edition designs in their own studio in London.
