The Designers
A house for every preference.
Eight independent African designers, each chosen for the integrity of their craft. From the looms of Iseyin to the workshops of Marrakech, every garment passes a quiet test before it appears here.
Lagos · est. 2014
Atelier Adunni
Founded by Adunni Bakare in a studio off Awolowo Road, Atelier Adunni reworks the woven cloth of the Yoruba — aso oke — into contemporary ready-to-wear. The cloth is loomed by a cooperative of twelve weavers in Iseyin; every garment is finished in the Lagos atelier.
3 pieces in the house →
Addis Ababa · est. 1986
Atelier Tessema
A father-and-daughter atelier producing hand-woven Ethiopian cotton with traditional tibeb embroidery at the borders. The looms are operated by a small workshop in Shiro Meda; the cloth is then cut and finished in the Bole atelier.
2 pieces in the house →
Bamako · est. 2017
Bogolan Studio
A studio of three: two cloth-makers and a ceramicist working from a courtyard in Bamako's Hippodrome quarter. Bogolan (mud cloth) is fermented and dyed by hand over six weeks; no two lengths are identical.
3 pieces in the house →
Graaff-Reinet, South Africa · est. 1976
House of Ndlovu
A house in the Karoo highlands, hand-knitting fine merino spun from a single Eastern Cape flock. The garments are produced on the same farmstead that has made them for nearly half a century.
3 pieces in the house →
Bonwire, Ashanti Region · est. 1968
Kente & Co.
Four generations of kente weavers from the village of Bonwire. The cloth is woven on narrow looms in the village and finished in the Accra atelier. Each piece is named for the proverb it carries.
2 pieces in the house →
Dakar · est. 1998
Maison Diop
A Dakar house formed by the late Aminata Diop, now led by her daughter Khady. Maison Diop is celebrated for its bazin riche eveningwear — heavy damask, indigo-dyed, hand-pleated — and a long tradition of hand-embroidered finishing.
3 pieces in the house →
Nairobi · est. 2009
Studio Wangari
Wangari Mwangi's studio works in hand-loomed cotton, hand-beaded panels, and washed linens. Garments are designed to soften with wear; the beadwork is made in collaboration with a women's collective in Kajiado.
1 pieces in the house →
Marrakech · est. 2018
Talla
Talla Benchekroun trained as a goldsmith in Fez before opening her Marrakech atelier. The studio works in vegetable-tanned Moroccan leather, with hand-stitched embroidery referencing the geometric language of the medina.
5 pieces in the house →