Lemlem founder Liya Kebede partners with The Woolmark Company
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15th Oct 2019
Liya Kebede is no stranger to the fashion industry. Born in Ethiopia, the New York-based model has graced countless covers of American Vogue and walked for every designer under the sun, from Loewe to Givenchy, Calvin Klein to Dries van Noten, Celine and Chanel.
When she is not shooting editorials or walking the runways of Milan, Paris, London or New York, Kebede helms lemlem, a fashion brand she founded in 2007 to give back to her native Ethiopia and support local artisans there, and the lemlem Foundation, a non-profit organisation that seeks to give back to female artisans and support local industry.
To coincide with the launch of lemlem’s new travel capsule, which Kebede designed in partnership with The Woolmark Company and which is available for purchase today, Vogue chats to the model, designer and philanthropist about how she came to found the brand, the importance of collaboration, and the experience of working with Merino Wool.
You began your career as a model. Can you tell us about your entrée into fashion and why and when you founded lemlem?
“I grew up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was discovered as a model there when I was 18 years old. I moved to Paris shortly thereafter, and a year later I moved to the United States, first to Chicago and then to New York to pursue a modeling career. In 2007, I founded my brand lemem to create a solution to a problem I saw while visiting Addis. The traditional weavers there were losing work as the trend towards fast fashion hit Ethiopia. Creating lemlem was my way of helping to preserve their livelihoods by bringing this beautiful art of weaving to the global market.”
At lemlem, you use traditional Ethiopian methods of hand-spinning and weaving cotton. How do you use these age-old techniques, while still creating clothes that are relevant for today?
“We have an incredible design team based here in New York that works closely with the weavers. In our design process, we are conscious of what the materials and traditional processes can produce and where there are limitation. At the same time, we push these limits, working with the weavers to test more complex patterns, and through this process we all grow creatively and I think this shows in our collections.”
Why is it important for you to support and nurture industry in your native Ethiopia?
“We work with the leading weaving workshop in Ethiopia, called Muya, which means talent in Amharic. As an Ethiopian, it is very important to me to give back to my home country, by creating jobs and helping to preserve our cultural heritage.”
How important is it to you to involve and empower women through their work with lemlem?
“I love how many women are involved in helping drive lemlem’s success. We work with three women-owned partner workshops, and hundreds of women artisans who play a key part in making our collections. This is really the heart of the brand and what we stand for: women helping women.”
Each lemlem piece passes through so many hands. How important is collaboration to the brand, and why?
“Making a beautiful piece really does take a full team effort and I love being part of the design process and seeing how [pieces] come to life – from the spinning and preparing of the cotton, to the special techniques involved in weaving the fabric by hand, and then to our sewing team that craft the final product.”
How did your partnership with Woolmark develop?
“I had the opportunity to be part of the judging panel for The Woolmark Company’s International Prize a few years ago and we began discussing the idea to collaborate soon after. At lemlem, our collections are best known for summer weather with our light, gauzy handwoven fabrics. With Woolmark we had this incredible opportunity to incorporate wool into a new sustainable travel collection. Woolmark also generously donated to the lemlem Foundation’s artisan training program. With their support, we ran a wool masterclass for our women weavers to learn the special characteristics of wool and techniques to make beautiful creations with it.”
Tell us about the travel capsule.
lemlem selected extra fine Merino wool yarns from leading Italian spinner and Woolmark licensee, Zegna Baruffa Lane Borgosesia to create an eight-piece travel capsule collection. [The collection] includes a poncho, wrap, blouses and lounge pants. These pieces will be so soft and comfortable for travel.”
Was there anything that surprised you when working with Australian Merino wool?
“Wool is an incredible fibre. As the fashion industry grapples with how to improve its environmental footprint and reduce waste, using a fibre like wool – that can be worn for many years and is biodegradable – is a good option for designers. We are all very excited about this collaboration at lemlem as we strive to integrate new sustainable materials into our collections.”
Tell us about your favourite piece in the collection.
“My favourite is our ‘Giving Scarf’ collection we made to accompany this collection. These scarves were produced by the women weavers trained in the wool masterclass. 100 per cent of the proceeds will be donated back to the lemlem Foundation to support education and service projects to benefit them and other women at their workshop.”
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