Asili Design was born from a deep appreciation of the design and architecture of East Africa.
Inspired by the incredible artisans, unique natural materials, and passion for community-led projects, co-founder Eve Penny wanted Asili to be a vehicle for supporting those local creatives, encouraging their distinctive work to blossom on an international scale.
Asili understands the process and labour that goes into each design production and remains focused on delivering fair trade and community-led initiatives by working with local producers and natural materials.
“We have a fair trade production partner on the ground in Kenya who ensures all production meets the WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) standards and this partnership is what drives Asili,” says Eve.
Asili’s main focus when working with their makers is to develop local enterprises while ensuring consistent production, innovative collaborations, and support for fair trade practices. The groups they work closely with are located across Uganda and Kenya where each one specialises in their own handcrafted materials.
With access to a wide range of materials across these countries, Asili offers the opportunity for brands to work with these amazing artisans and their ethnically sourced textiles like stone, Ankole cattle horn, and East African wood. Brands can decide between crating their own custom range with the design team or order from Asili’s collection.
A portion of every order will go into the Asili Foundation for community-led initiatives. Brands and customers have the option to track their impact via details from Asili.
“This was a huge focus for our trip to Kenya earlier this month, listening to the artisans and their community leaders about their needs and projects that need supporting,” says Eve. “They have established some great community-led initiatives that we’re very proud to support.”
Working with African communities and supporting the livelihoods of local artisans has been the most rewarding aspect for Eve – in 2021, they contributed to the income of more than 30 families across East Africa. As well as the excitement of working with new materials people may not have heard of before, Eve emphasises the amazing connectivity that Asili offers brands, artisans, and customers.
Many exciting projects are in the pipeline for the team at Asili, including developing a custom range collection for a new brand in Australia and a collaboration with a London-based designer. Alongside these new connections, Asili strives to continue their inspiring community work and support for East African artisans while building an international stage for new materials and intriguing architecture. Asili truly is making a difference.
Words by Stephanie Axtens
