BUYU was founded with a belief that travel embodies multiple characters taken from each location and purpose. Their line of travel bags inspire entrepreneurship, empowerment, and artisanship.
The nature of the synthetic mass produced luggage industry has striped the traveller of any unique variant identity, and this is where BUYU comes to the rescue. They started to design with the bold, discerning and conscious traveller in mind, someone who is authentic to his or her own spirit and seeks to change the world around them. Therefore all products are one of a kind, with each pattern telling the unique tale of the person who produced it, making each bag an original creation. No two bags duplicate any other in form, lines or color.
To achieve this, their team had to find a fabric that could withstand the rigorous demands of global travel but was still stylish, renewable and unique. Searching far and wide, their travels led to Kenya. In an open market in Nairobi, they met a Kamba woman called Josephine who introduced them to her people’s age-old weaving tradition using hand spun thread made from fibers of the sacred Baobab tree.
The Akamba people, also known as The Rope People, have inhabited the remote mountainous regions of the Kenyan savannah for centuries. They are famous craftspeople, hunters and long distance traders. They are also one of the few communities in Africa who still practice this ancient weaving technique, which has been passed down through generations of women.They sustainably harvest the bark of the mighty Baobab and meticulously spin it into a beautiful natural textile.
It takes four weeks for a group of 30 women to weave 155 yards of material – 5 yards each. The whole process including harvesting, spinning, dyeing and weaving, is all done by hand.
No two 5-yard strip of fabric are the same thanks to the Baobab’s tremendous colors and textures and each artisan’s individual personal techniques. The resulting fabric is also hard wearing, all-weather, flame retardant and of an incomparable quality.
These artisans are able to work in their original environment, earn a living and keep their cultural traditions alive.
These unique one-of-kind travel accessories are the result:
For more information on products, check out their website. You can also follow them via Instagram.
