Founded in 1995 by Thaddée de Slizewicz, Tadé was born from a fascination with the bathing traditions, craftsmanship and material culture of the Eastern Mediterranean.
While best known for its Aleppo soaps, Tadé's purpose extends beyond soap alone. For almost three decades, the company has worked with artisans, workshops and producers across Syria and the wider Levant, helping preserve products and skills that have shaped daily life throughout the region for centuries.
From Aleppo soap and hammam accessories to natural body care and household products, the collection reflects a deep respect for traditional craftsmanship, regional materials and the people who continue to practise these skills today.
Why Tadé Matters
Many traditional crafts disappear gradually. Skills are lost, workshops close and local markets that once sustained production become increasingly difficult to maintain.
For almost thirty years, Tadé has worked directly with producers throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, helping create sustainable demand for products rooted in regional traditions.
This commitment has been particularly important for Aleppo soap. Rather than reproducing Aleppo-style soap elsewhere, Tadé continues to support production within its historic region of origin, maintaining direct relationships with the soap makers, workshops and expertise that define authentic Aleppo soap.
For us, this is what makes Tadé distinctive. Their role is not simply to sell traditional products, but to help ensure the traditions behind them continue to survive.
The Aleppo Soap Tradition
Aleppo soap is widely regarded as one of the world's oldest soap-making traditions and is often considered the precursor to many later Mediterranean soap-making methods, including those that eventually influenced Savon de Marseille.
Produced during the winter months following the olive harvest, traditional Aleppo soap is made from olive oil and laurel berry oil. The oils are slowly saponified in large cauldrons before the soap is poured across vast floors, cut into blocks and stamped with the mark of the soap house.
The process remains remarkably unchanged and continues to rely on the experience and judgement of the soap makers themselves.
For Tadé, preserving Aleppo soap means preserving not only the finished product, but also the knowledge, buildings, tools and skills that make its production possible.
A Craft Measured in Months, Not Minutes
One of the defining characteristics of Aleppo soap is the time required to produce it.
Freshly made soap begins life with a rich green colour before being stacked into remarkable drying towers and left to mature for many months. During this ageing process the exterior gradually transforms into the golden-beige colour associated with traditional Aleppo soap, while the interior often remains green.
The curing rooms and drying towers have become symbols of Aleppo soap itself, reflecting the patience and craftsmanship required to create a product that cannot be rushed.
Beyond Aleppo Soap
Tadé's contribution to the Aleppo soap story extends beyond importing and distributing traditional bars. The company has helped adapt Aleppo soap for modern consumers through fragranced soaps, liquid cleansers and specialist formulations made using genuine Aleppo soap noodles derived from olive and laurel oil soap.
Importantly, these products retain the philosophy of the original soap: plant oils, simple formulations and an absence of unnecessary colourants. Rather than recreating Aleppo soap in name alone, Tadé uses authentic Aleppo soap as the foundation for a broader collection that introduces the tradition to new audiences while respecting its origins.
While Aleppo soap remains at the heart of the collection, Tadé also celebrates the wider bathing and cleansing traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean.
The range includes hammam accessories, black soaps, natural exfoliation tools, olive wood products and traditional body care inspired by centuries of regional practice.
Together, these products tell a broader story: one of bathing, cleansing and wellbeing traditions that developed around the hammam and continue to influence daily life throughout the region today.
The Tadé Philosophy
Tadé describes its philosophy through three principles: authenticity, pleasure and elegance.
These values are not expressed through luxury for its own sake, but through respect for traditional materials, thoughtful design and products that remain connected to their place of origin.
Today, Tadé employs teams in both Syria and France and continues to work closely with producers throughout the region, helping ensure that traditional knowledge remains a living craft rather than a historical curiosity.
Why We Work With Tadé
We have worked with Tadé for many years because of their commitment to authenticity and their long-standing support for traditional Aleppo soap production.
Their products remain rooted in the places, materials and skills that created them. That connection to origin matters. It helps preserve one of the world's great soap-making traditions while allowing customers to experience products that remain genuinely connected to their heritage.
For us, Tadé represents something increasingly rare: a company dedicated not only to the products themselves, but also to the people and traditions behind them.
At a Glance
- Founded: 1996
- Founder: Thaddée de Slizewicz
- Headquarters: France
- Speciality: Aleppo Soap and Eastern Mediterranean Traditions
- Known For: Traditional Aleppo Soap, Hammam Accessories, Natural Body Care
- Production Region: Syria and the Levantine Mediterranean
- Core Philosophy: Authenticity, Pleasure and Elegance
Further Reading
- What Is Aleppo Soap?
- How Aleppo Soap Is Made
- Aleppo Soap vs Savon de Marseille
- Understanding Laurel Oil Percentages
- The History of Aleppo Soap
- A Guide to the Traditional Hammam
- Olive Oil, Laurel Oil and Traditional Soap Making