Est. 2016

How it started

Founder Wanja started Ikintu in 2016 while living in France after witnessing an increased global consumer interest in sustainable and ecofriendly products. She was particularly surprised at the high prices that handwoven baskets were selling at, since, having come from a weaving community, she was quite aware of the lack of domestic market for these products and had witnessed the artisan exploitation of middlemen who bought the baskets at low prices. She would feel quite disappointed when she would see these beautiful heirloom baskets being displayed and sold by merchants as she was well aware that the makers had been cut out of the commercial part of the operation. This made her vow to work directly with the artisans and support their economic development, as well as amplify them to tell their individual stories that their weave in each of their baskets. Ikintu works with the same cooperatives of female weavers, developing trusting relationships while promising fair compensation and respect for work.

In the past 8 years, we have observed significant improvement for women weavers, especially more involvement in running the business of the cooperatives and new weavers joining the groups. In the past, due to low income and scarce customer base for crafts, newer and younger generations did not see it as a dependable source of income and preferred to relocate to urban areas in search of opportunities.The profitability of weaving has led to an increase in many younger women, some of whom are from non-artisan communities, joining the weaving cooperatives.

Granting the artisans power to take care of the business has not only empowered them but also increased the weaving profitability which encourage younger generations to learn the trade and keep passing it down.