Boon & Up announce a new collection of beautiful hand-woven fabrics created in rural Ghana by women weavers using hand grown, carbon-neutral cotton.
Boon & Up was started by artist Jonathan Hall as a means of regenerating the local textile industry inrural north west Ghana, home to the Dagaaba people. It was while working for a charity in the region in 2017 that Jonathan became fascinated by the traditional methods the weavers used to create fabric.
However, the weavers told Jonathan that they were finding it increasingly difficult to make a living, mainly due to global warming; unreliable weather patterns have led to poor harvests and local farmers are left with little spare money to buy the traditional cloth.
After much research and a few alterations, Jonathan set about regenerating this cottage industry. A simple flying shuttle system was added to the traditional narrow looms enabling the weavers to create fabric up to 110cm wide; cheap Chinese polyester yarn was replaced by carbon-neutral cotton grown by smallholder African farmers under the ‘Cotton made in Africa’ inititiave; and a new palette of colours was introduced to the weavers’ traditional patterns based on the hues that the Dagaaba people paint their houses.
Initially Boon & Up launched a collection of six fabrics in April 2021, now a range of thirty-five beautiful patterns are available at Tissus d’Hélène at Chelsea Harbour Design Centre, as well as at showrooms across the US, France and Australia.
As Jonathan explains: “We want to remain authentic to tradition, but at the same time tweak the output of the weavers to appeal to global customer requirements, and, as a result, Boon & Up will bring much needed employment to this impoverished and remote part of north Ghana.”
Boon & Up invests 20% of profits in projects that create further employment opportunities in the local community.
www.boonandup.com | IG: @boonandup
