Resilience in the face of war and fashion: The story of EILAF – VOGUE ITALIA
Thu 21 Sep
EILAF OSMAN
Eilaf Osman, founder and creative director of Eilaf, talks to us firsthand about what resilience means in fashion when your supply chain is affected by wars, infrastructure problems and climate shocks.
On April 15, 2023 at 2.13pm New York City I received a phone call that would forever change the trajectory of my career as a stylist. I had just achieved some important work milestones, such as winning the Fashion Trust Arabia award , having my first exhibition in Paris and being acquired by prestigious luxury retailers such as MATCHES and McMullen. These results have brought my emerging brand to a relatively stable point to begin having a coherent program for the production of my handcrafted developed bags and baskets. The goal of my brand, EILAF, has always been to showcase East African artisanal patterns and create communities of artisans who share their craft with me.Now, with retail orders coming in, my brand can provide ongoing employment to my artisan communities and help develop sustainable livelihood initiatives.
"Art never stops. Always keep weaving, no matter what."
Zanzibari Mamas
Our most successful bag has been the DOM Basket Bag . I designed it after researching and archiving a nearly extinct basket weaving technique from the Brno Tribe in South Darfur. I spent months working with the community of artisans in the rural region to create a sufficient supply chain for the baskets. With new orders from MATCHES and McMullen scheduled for delivery in May, we were excited to introduce this bag to the global market and preserve a beautiful technique as part of our cultural heritage.
Then I got the phone call. My main coordinator told me that the country had been engulfed overnight in a power struggle between the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces (a paramilitary militia) and the Sudanese Armed Forces . He told me that the country's fate was now unpredictable and that he did not know when he would be able to travel to meet our weavers in rural villages. For the next two weeks I was unable to contact him because the internet and telecommunications were down. The banking systems were blocked. Electricity, water, transportation, shipping, and medical care had become inaccessible. Within days, Sudan had become a failed state.
In the fifth month of the war I received another phone call. This time my mother told me that some of my weavers had managed to cross into the neighboring country, Chad. They had made it to a refugee camp in Chad, but I knew I had to help them resettle and re-establish our supply chain of DOM Basket Bags . At the time, I was in Zanzibar, Tanzania, working on an editorial shoot and learning a new basket weaving technique from the Zanzibari Mamas , a cohort of weavers based on Paje Beach. My mother helped me find a mutual friend based in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, who generously offered to host my weavers and help find them rent and school.
I immediately booked a flight to Addis Ababa to go to the Chad Embassy and apply for a visa. Within a week I arrived in N'Djamena without knowing what awaited me. I brought with me one of the lessons that the Zanzibari Mamas taught me: «Art never stops. Always keep weaving, no matter what." What does resilience mean in the world of fashion? What does it look like when your supply chain is affected by wars, infrastructure issues and climate shocks like floods? When I arrived in Chad, I found my answer.
"Resilience is how artisans find ways to heal themselves through their artistic expression."
Eilaf Osman
Resilience is how artisans find ways to heal themselves through their artistic expression. These are the hours we spent together at my mother's friend's house weaving our baskets with palm leaves scattered on the floor. Resilience is laughing at the sudden rain that hit us while we were working in the garden. Resilience is eating all our meals together and finding peace in community activities. Resilience is working more than 150 hours on weaving a new bag model and discussing the dimensions of the bag together. Resilience is weaving as a way to preserve the legacy of our culture even when we are so far from home.