OROMO ATELIER
Oromo Atelier is a brand where Dutch craftsmanship meets African textiles in one of a kind pieces where cultural identity emerges through every thread and detail.
“Sourcing more sustainable materials, including fibres that are recycled and recyclable, regenerative and/or sourced responsibly, is a critical component of decarbonization.”
The State of Fashion
HISTORY
Indigo Fashion was created in 2018 in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. The brand had an opening in March launching a fashion show in Prodent Fabriek and a fashion show at Library Eemhuis Amersfoort in September.
Between 2018 and 2022, Caroline designed and sewed tailor made clothes for an exclusive network of clients. In September 2019, the brand presented a third fashion show in Marienhof in Amersfoort.
In 2022 Indigo Fashion rebranded Indigo Fashion in Oromo Atelier.
THE TEXTILES
The fabrics used for Oromo Atelier are unique. They come from West Africa from countries like Mali, Burkina Faso and Benin. It takes many pair of hands (both men’s and women’s) to grow the cotton, spin the yarn, make the warp, weave the strips of cloth, assemble the strips together, tie the patterns and dye the fabric. In the end the fabric might be hammered or beaten to flatten the fibres.
Another way to make patterns in the cloth is called “Adire”. This is a wax resist block printing pattern.
In the Netherlands Oromo Atelier sews the clothes and adds artistic elements in the fabrics in a contrasting ochre colour with yarns. These yarns are also fair trade and organic and sourced in the most ethical way.They use leftovers from the couture studio of Marijke Bongers. She dyes her beautiful fabrics with local dye plants like onionskins, willow bark and hulls or seeds. Caroline Nijland works together with Marijke on a collection of home decoration, textile art and sustainable clothes with the aim to use the clothes and fabrics as long as possible.
If there is any issue that hampers our client to wear anymore the outfit of Oromo Atelier, please let us know and we would love to think together how to accommodate the client to find the solution that best fits. We can do beautiful visible or invisible mending to let your clothes extend their lifetime.
“There is a very good reason for preserving African handcrafted clothmaking traditions: when textiles such as bògòlanfini mud cloths from Mali become fashionable in the West, this trend influences the clothing habits of the local urban elite. Fine fabrics will continue to be produced by African weavers, dyers and embroiders as long as there is a local market for them.”
John Gillow, African Textiles, page 14