KIKAO: Teal & Hot Pink Duo Colour Block Woven Basket
Bold and bright, these KIKAO duo colour block baskets are designed exclusively by The Basket Room for SS23 and feature equal bands of verdigris (blue-green) and bright pink. These handy and ethically-produced storage baskets come in three sizes so there’s scope to use them all over the home: as a desk tidy, a jewellery pot, as toy baskets and baskets for rugs, throws and slippers. These baskets also make perfect woven planters, and inspired new home gifts.
Basket weaving within a group enables women to support their families for the first time in their lives with a flexible income in the dry seasons, where farming becomes an unsustainable income stream. We have partnered with this rural Kenyan weaving group for several years now and we spend time with these women in person as often as we can.
These artisans are highly experienced in creating an array of colours through scrupulous hand dyeing, and their careful weaving work is equally impressive. All of these women have woven from a young age – having been taught by female elders in their families and communities - and will continue to pass this precious legacy on to future generations. This group continues to grow and thrive all thanks to your purchases.
Material: SISAL & BRANDED LEATHER TAB
Dimensions (approx):
If you need a specific size please let us know prior to placing your order.
Please note, as this is a handmade product, dimensions & colour may vary from those shown in the photographs.
HANDMADE IN KENYA
Our journey into sustainable style began in Kenya, and the lion’s share of our woven baskets are Kenyan-made. Whilst every region of Kenya boasts its own rich natural bounty, each cooperative we partner with offers expertise in its own unique form of basketry. Weaving, dyeing and grass-rolling techniques differ across the regions as much as basket shapes, patterns and structures. These precious crafts are woven through the generations within families - passed along continuous thread from mother to daughter - protecting and preserving an art form as old as man.
Vast and colourful, vibrant and bursting with natural beauty and style, our fair trade baskets are as eclectic as their homeland and its people. From sisal grass to doum palm, banana leaf fibres to palm leaf, each weaving cooperative works with what is locally available and only what can be sustainably sourced, to produce beautiful baskets which are 100% Kenyan made, and ethically produced. All cow hide bag tags, straps, and basket labels are made from leather sourced as a by-product of the food industry. Natural dyes come from pounded roots, bark and vegetables of the region, whilst all synthetic dyes are sustainably sourced.
From the Kamba tribe to the camel-herding Ariaal pastoralists of Northern Kenya, you can read more about the lives of the Kenyan weavers we work with - and the wonderful baskets they produce - below.
