Africa is now. The world is obsessed with design and art from the continent. Age-old traditional skills such as weaving are being combined with modern aesthetics to create unique and quintessentially African pieces that are finding homes across the globe. We’ve rounded up 5 designs that are placing ancient weaving techniques in the spotlight.
Khokho is a luxury accessories brand that combines Italian workmanship with traditional Swazi weaving techniques. The brainchild of Philippa Thorne and Sapna Shah, Khokho uses the ancient craft of weaving to create stylish, contemporary handbags. What’s more, all artisans who work on the bags receive a percentage of proceeds from the sales.
Uganda Crafts’ range of functional and decorative woven baskets are not only aesthetically gorgeous, but ethically produced too. The organisation works with women’s groups throughout Uganda to help create employment and provide training, and all the baskets are woven with sustainable banana and raffia fibres, making them a Fair Trade organistaion too.
Senegal-based Johanna Bramble is a weaver and textile designer who has spent years creating products for architects and designers around the world. Bramble makes the most of her country’s expertise in weaving and textile design, and employs the unique Senegalese weaving technique in all her home textiles. The finished products all show an incredible play of texture, light and transparency, thanks to this ancient craft.
While their furniture may come across as sleek and Scandi-inspired, we love the fact that all Vogel’s pieces have a uniquely African twist. A perfect example is the Twig chair, with its woven plastic seat.
Studium recently launched their furniture design with the playful Rotunda drinks cabinet. The façade is made from traditional woven fabric, spray-painted to create a bold geometric design. The play of modern and traditional converges perfectly in this feature piece.
