We all have our own unique story in life; every little story has shaped who you are today. WayaWaya’s story starts with our amazing women and their innate ability to overcome serious struggles in life, their power to stay positive and motivated. These women inspire us daily and through WayaWaya we want to share this inspiration with you.
“We are all the same on the outside, but on the inside we have different stories…..”
Our bags also have a little inside story. In addition to being practical, the bag´s lining is made from of our own customized fabric. At first we were envisioning using African chitenge fabric, but then we had the idea to make our own customized fabric. WayaWaya is a name with geometrical letters, and we have been thinking of making a pattern out of the letters. Iris started to play with the letters and different fonts in illustrator, and it turned out pretty cool! We got excited and decided to give it a try. A friend of ours Jean-Pierre Le Roux,helped us to adjust the letters into a more visual pattern, and with high expectations, we went to a digital printing company and ordered 15 meters….
Three days later we literally ran into the shop, eager to see the result. We had difficulty hiding our disappointment when they started rolling out the print. The colors were bleached, parts of the print were uneven, and the contrast between pattern and the background was hazy. There was no way we would use it and we were starting to have serious time constraints. With only few days left, we needed to get started on the lining. Dilemma: should we give our print another go, or should we just go for the chitenge fabric? What if the next batch turned out poorly as well? We wouldn’t have time (or money) for that. We closed our eyes, held our breath and took the chance. Apparently there was indeed something wrong with the printing machine and they agreed to make another effort. I don’t know how we convinced them, but they managed to make another print for us in two days. With some adjustment, the print turned out much, much better. A moment of relief! Now we had fabric for the lining and dust bags, just in time.
Work in progress
The Look
Through Chole we got in touch with a graphic designer, Mia Nolting. Together we have been developing the pattern further. She is also helping us develop our visual profile. Soon we has a logo, pattern, symbol, artwork and color combinations ready for our concept. We are looking forward to showing you all! It’s exciting to see how the artwork is developing. This is the newest version of the pattern:
Iris brought the rest of the fabric and leather back to Zambia and is now arranging a workshop where 10 women will make shopping bags. The bags will be made from our fabric and have leather straps. These will be our very first products! She will tell you more about the workshop next week. Stay tuned!
P.S!
In the next post we will show you the bags we made in Cape Town.
-Merete
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