LAINI: Thin Stripe Charcoal & Natural Woven Storage Basket
Description
Narrow grey stripes on a natural sisal base make the LAINI collection of striped baskets a popular choice for those who favour monochrome and natural tones in the home. Hand woven by a small rural weaving cooperative in Kenya, these woven baskets come in three different sizes and can be used all over the home as fruit baskets and desk tidies, large planters and laundry baskets. Need more inspo? Check out our basket uses page HERE.
The craftswomen in this growing cooperative are extremely skilled at producing the repeat patterns of our Linear Fusion collection, meeting weekly with their Chairlady to arrange work, deliver completed orders and pick up their wages. Sisal grass is purchased ready-rolled when The Basket Room places their orders with the cooperative, and is hand-dyed in large vats. Household soot is used to dye these baskets, collected and crushed before being added to boiling water. Fun fact: thatched and iron rooves produce different shades of brown soot!
Working with cooperatives in Africa empowers women to earn a flexible income in the dry seasons, where subsistence farming can fail to meet the needs of the family. Buy one of our woven baskets and you actively support these weavers’ livelihoods, and our commitment to fair them. Each beautifully woven basket is supplied with a thank you card from the weaving cooperative, and you can meet these weavers right HERE.
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.
Meet The Artisans
Who Made Your Basket?
United KingdomOur new baskets
Our puppy had the cheek to destroy our lovely Bolga waste-paper baskets while we were out a couple of weeks ago. Your replacement items arrived quickly and are very nice. We have to pop them up on a shelf when we go out!
The Basket Room
Thank you for your review! I'm sorry to hear your previous baskets were destroyed, hopefully the replacements will last a little longer! Thanks for shopping with us at The Basket Room
United KingdomThe best baskets!
The best baskets. I have quite a few now and wouldn’t bother looking anywhere else.
The Basket Room
Thank you for your lovely review and kind words. This makes us very happy to hear indeed! Thank you for your continued support!
United KingdomA mystery
The Basket room were great to deal with. This basket was a Christmas present. When it arrived there were actually two baskets in the parcel. I gave them both to the family member … leaving them the option to keep one and …maybe if they didn’t actually want both… give one back. But they loved the present so much and were so happy … they kept them both and I ended up with neither. I do still wonder why there were two baskets though…
The Basket Room
Thank you for leaving us a review. We were gifting a free basket with all orders for a week during December after winning an award and as a thank you for shopping with us! We are glad to hear your recipient liked both of them!
