WAKATI: Power Lilac Wool and Sisal Tote Bag
With soft stripes of power lilac and a cheeky pop of mint green on its base, WAKATI is a basket bag of pastel-lovers’ dreams. Handwoven over a period of six days by talented weavers in the Eastern Region of Kenya, the WAKATI woven tote is the perfect companion for festivals, picnics, shopping and gym trips.
Produced by women working in a long-established craft collective of 500 artisans, these yarn and sisal basket bags are 100% Kenyan, from their sisal fibres to their leather straps. All leather used to produce this basket bag’s shoulder straps is a by-product of the food industry, and sewn by women working for a flourishing Nairobi leather workshop.
The women who produce these woven totes mainly come from farming families, heavily reliant on crop production for income and sustenance. During times of drought these families can struggle to produce enough harvest, so the traditional craft of handweaving has become an alternative income for these women and their families. Making baskets helps women earn a fair and flexible wage to help towards school fees and food and brings with it great empowerment and autonomy.
Material: Sisal and Yarn (Synthetic), Leather Straps
Dimensions: 35cmW X 30cmH approx (width is measured at the widest part of the bag)
Strap Length: 29cm approx
Leather used is a by-product of the food industry.
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.
