Heather Chaplet is a textile designer based in Burkina Faso who produces handmade, organic cotton that helps limit the environmental and ethical damage of the fashion industry. She is the daughter of MacKenzie-Childs co-founder Victoria MacKenzie-Childs. [1] [2]
Chaplet graduated with a degree in theater from Brown University, initially working in set and costume design before pursuing a career in textile designs. [1]
In 2009 she founded Xoomba with her musician husband Nils. Based in one of the poorest countries in Africa, Burkina Faso, Chaplet was initially drawn to the area because of her prior training in African dance. In 2011 the company's first production of 100% fair-trade cotton debuted, and clothing collections for men, women and children followed suit, including a baby line constructed from kapok. [3] [4]
In 2023, Xoomba received a grant from the European Union, administered by the Burkinabè Foundation for Culture and Tourism, along with the SELCO Foundation, to provide Chaplet's team with solar loom makers they use for major textile projects in India. [ citation needed ]
Burkina Faso, officially the People's Republic of Burkina Faso, is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2. In 2021, the country had an estimated population of approximately 23,674,480. Previously called the Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by former president Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
The economy of Burkina Faso is based primarily on subsistence farming and livestock raising. Burkina Faso has an average income purchasing-power-parity per capita of $1,900 and nominal per capita of $790 in 2014. More than 80% of the population relies on subsistence agriculture, with only a small fraction directly involved in industry and services. Highly variable rainfall, poor soils, lack of adequate communications and other infrastructure, a low literacy rate, and a stagnant economy are all longstanding problems of this landlocked country. The export economy also remained subject to fluctuations in world prices.
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor percentages of waxes, fats, pectins, and water. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds.
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu is the capital of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais. The spelling of the name Ouagadougou is derived from the French orthography common in former French African colonies.
Koudougou is a city in Burkina Faso's Boulkiemdé Province. It is located 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. With a population of 160,239 (2019), it is the third most populous city in Burkina Faso after Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso, and is mainly inhabited by the Gurunsi and Mossi ethnic groups. Koudougou is situated on the only railway line in Burkina Faso and has some small industries, a market, a university and provincial government offices.
Fanta Regina Nacro is well known for being the first woman from Burkina Faso to direct a feature film and is a founding member of the Guilde Africaine des Realisateurs et Producteurs. She is an artist who explores the themes of African cinema while tackling issues surrounding illness such as AIDS, and education for the girl child. She represents the "New African Wave". Nacro's films tend to question the traditions of Burkina Faso, while looking at the relationship between tradition and modernity in today's world.
Chantal Compaoré, born Chantal Terrasson de Fougères is the Franco-Ivorian wife of former President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso. Born in the Dabou, Ivory Coast, after becoming the First Lady in 1987 she spent much of her time on charity work in Burkina Faso. Her husband, who came to power in a bloody 1987 military coup, was overthrown in the 2014 Burkinabé uprising. Chantal Compaoré was subsequently forced to flee to her home country, going into exile together with her husband.
Fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and high-fashion designs, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail quickly while demand is at its highest. The term fast fashion is also used generically to describe the products of this business model, particularly clothing and footwear. Retailers who employ the fast fashion strategy include Primark, H&M, Shein, and Zara, all of which have become large multinationals by driving high turnover of inexpensive seasonal and trendy clothing that appeals to fashion-conscious consumers.
African textiles are textiles from various locations across the African continent. Across Africa, there are many distinctive styles, techniques, dyeing methods, and decorative and functional purposes. These textiles hold cultural significance and also have significance as historical documents of African design.
Sustainable fashion is a term describing efforts within the fashion industry to reduce its environmental impacts, protect workers producing garments and uphold animal welfare. Sustainability in fashion encompasses a wide range of factors, including cutting CO2 emissions, addressing overproduction, reducing pollution and waste, supporting biodiversity and ensuring that garment workers are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions.
Prue Acton, is an Australian fashion designer, often referred to as "Australia's golden girl of fashion" during the 1960s.
Yennenga was a legendary princess, considered the mother of the Mossi people of Burkina Faso. She was a famous warrior precious to her father, Naa Gbewaa or Nedega, the founder of the kingdom of Dagbon, now in present day Ghana. But the princess aspired to another destiny and decided to leave the kingdom. On the run with her horse, she meets a young hunter, Rialé with whom she had a child called Ouedraogo. Ouedraogo is a famous last name in Burkina Faso and means "male horse" in honor to the horse which leads the princess to Rialé. Yennenga or her son Ouedraogo are considered the founder of the Mossi Kingdoms. There are different versions about the escape of the princess.
Gold Mining often plays a significant role in Burkina Faso’s economy. Burkina Faso has become Africa's 4th biggest producer of gold in 2012. Production of mineral commodities is limited to cement, dolomite, gold, granite, marble, phosphate rock, pumice, other volcanic materials, and salt.
Cotton made in Africa ("CmiA") is a project initiative launched and managed by the Aid by Trade Foundation (AbTF), headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. AbTF was founded in 2005 by Dr. Michael Otto, the Hamburg business entrepreneur and Chairman of Otto Group. Cotton marketed under the badge is produced according to strict criteria for environmental, economic, and social sustainability.
Leila Alaoui was a French–Moroccan photographer and video artist. She worked as a commercial photographer for magazines and non-governmental organizations and completed assignments on refugees. Her work was exhibited widely and is held in the collection of Qatar Museums. Alaoui died from injuries suffered in a terrorist attack in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Mimi Plange is a Ghanaian-born fashion designer. She moved as a child to America, where she studied architecture and fashion.
Burkina Faso–India relations refers to the international relations that exist between Burkina Faso and India. Burkina Faso maintains an embassy in New Delhi. India maintained an embassy in Ouagadougou from November 1996 until its closure in July 2002. Currently, India maintains an honorary consulate in Ouagadougou, which functions under the jurisdiction of the High Commission of India in Accra, Ghana.
Burkina Faso–China relations refer to the diplomatic interactions between Burkina Faso and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Both nations maintain embassies in each other's capitals, Beijing and Ouagadougou, respectively.
Events in the year 2011 in Burkina Faso.
Victoria MacKenzie-Childs is a ceramic artist who along with her husband Richard founded the luxury home goods firm MacKenzie-Childs in 1983. A beacon of Madison Avenue in New York City in the 1990s, their "chic boutique" showcased their distinctly whimsical style that the New York Post once described as "Mary Poppins meets Alice in Wonderland." They sold the company in 2001 to pursue other ventures. Victoria is the mother of organic textile designer Heather Chaplet.