Clothes woven into unique carpets by Moroccan craftswomen
A Ghent social design project transforms customers’ old but beloved clothes into a one-of-a-kind rugs and tapestries, providing jobs to dozens of craftswomen in southern Morocco in the process
Threats of life
Yet despite our emotional attachment to them, these clothes are often relegated to a dark corner of the wardrobe. A new, Ghent-based company offers a solution to such wardrobe Catch-22s.
Run by sisters Marion and Hendrikje Meyvis Carpet of Life transforms such used clothes into unique carpets with traditional Moroccan weaving techniques. The fair trade design project co-operates with a group of 60 women from southern Morocco, who “transform textiles from our European customers into carpets, using the region’s traditional weaving technique,” explains Marion Meyvis.
The clothing and other fabrics that people hand over to Carpet of Life often has special significance, says Meyvis. “Usually, they are clothes that people no longer wear, but that cannot throw away for emotional reasons. They are textiles with a story.”
She offers the example of a carpet order the company received in celebration of a couple’s 30 years of marriage. “The children had asked their family and friends to donate one piece of clothing. With this clothing, we made four tapestries.”
Clothes for camel hair
Another customer contacted the two women to ask them to create a carpet from her clothes along with those of her late sister. “The result symbolises their relationship,” says Meyvis.
Carpet of Life employs craftswomen from M’hamid El Ghizlane, deep in the Moroccan desert. The designs are based on a traditional Moroccan style called Boucherwi that was created by nomadic travellers.
“In the past, these people travelled the major caravan routes between Morocco and Mali, but when nation states were established in the 1960s, these great travels came to an end,” Meyvis explains. “Camels were no longer needed as a result.”
It gives women a stronger voice and enables them to send their children to school
The animals’ hair, however, were also the source of raw material for making traditional carpets, so the dwindling camel populations have threatened the future of the traditional Boucherwi weaving technique. “At the same time, textile is so abundant here in the West,” Marion notes. “By bringing these two worlds together, Carpet of Life hopes to preserve traditional techniques and empower the craftswomen.”
Although the Meyvis sisters have run Carpet of Life since 2013, the idea was originally developed by Butterfly Works, a social innovation lab based in the Netherlands. Butterfly Works’ original plan was to build an eco-lodge in the region, but that idea did not pan out for structural reasons.
Instead, Carpet of Life was created, which today offers 60 women a fair salary. After the first year of operation, Marion and Hendrikje, who both had social entrepreneurship experience, took over the project.
Instead, Carpet of Life was created, which today offers 60 women a fair salary. After the first year of operation, Marion and Hendrikje, who both had social entrepreneurship experience, took over the project. Room to grow
“It’s challenging to work in a cultural environment that is so different from our own,” admits Meyvis. “But the results are worth it. We are able to pay the women a decent salary, and the fact that they are able to generate their own income results in independence. It gives these women a stronger voice and enables them to send their children to school, creating hope for future generations.”
In addition, Carpet for Life offers its employees free writing lessons, as many of them are unable to write.
For the future, the Meyvis sisters hope to further grow the company. “There are still some 250 women who know traditional weaving methods, so there is a lot of potential,” Meyvis says. “At the moment, we are actively looking for more customers, and we want to be able to offer work to an additional 50 women the next two years. There is so much need, and we want to offer an answer.”
