From a small town venture in the Klein Karoo, Barrydale Hand Weavers have weaved their way to the most prestigious fashion show on Earth, with its meticulous detail to quality featured prominently as part of Uni Form’s latest collection at Paris Fashion Week 2024.
The local artisanal brand, known for its environmentally conscious cotton products (of which the majority is grown locally) and commitment to preserving the age-old art of hand weaving, joined forces with Uni Form creative director Luke Radloff to transform cotton offcuts into eco-conscious luxury.
According to News62, the ongoing collaboration began with what some would call ‘a tale of fate’. Back in 2019, the then-unknown Johannesburg-based designer stopped over in Barrydale, by chance, en route to Cape Town when he discovered the material he would use when he launched his fifth solo collection in 2020.
Fast forward to 2023: Radloff was named GQ Magazine’s top designer and won the Nicholas Couts Artisanal Fashion Award, which focuses on designers who create fashion that foregrounds the skills of garment workers and local communities.
Labelled as a national treasure in the local fashion industry by many, including GQ Magazine, Radloff was then selected as the first laureate of the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation x Orveda residency programme in October last year, where he gained rare access to a collection of works by the greatest couturiers on the planet.
‘The privilege I enjoyed to go through Mr Alaïa’s own collection and the original work he collected of Coco Chanel, Christóbal Balenciaga, Madam Grey and other top couturiers made me realise more and more that I had to push to include a collaboration with the Barrydale Hand Weavers at the Paris Fashion Week,’ News62 quoted Radloff as saying.
Not long after, Radloff returned to Barrydale where he and the local loom masters of Barrydale Hand Weavers developed the range that took Europe by storm.
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This was not only a great achievement for both Radloff and Barrydale Hand Weavers, but for the South African Fashion industry at large, the publication reported.
The garments and textiles told the South African story to a new audience and in doing so reinvigorated interest in an immensely creative part of the world.
From a decades-old weaving company run by Kate and Arran Bastable in the Karoo Art Hotel, Barrydale Hand Weavers today not only produces world-class textiles for homes but is also a source of sustainable income for more than 30 families.
Article written by Tauhira Ajam orginally appeared on Cape Town Etc.
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Feature Image: Instagram / @fondationazzedinealaia
