Materials
13 April 2023
Popular with the biggest names in fashion, but also in design, raffia, a plant fibre from Madagascar, is making a comeback in arts and crafts. Coloured or raw, assembled with other materials such as leather or ceramics, as a garment or surface covering… Any excuse is good to use this versatile medium.
Malleable, this vegetable fibre with multiple virtues can be transformed with a simple gesture into ropes and other weavings. With dexterity, the editors Élitis, CMO Paris, Atelier Vime, the designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, the fashion brand Marni and the designer Tero Kuitunen tame the fibre to transform it into a creative material and present soft but surprising pieces. Here is a demonstration.
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COLOR
GOLD
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PARTICULARITY
STRONG
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STYLE
VEGETATION
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LOCATION
MADAGASCAR
Raffia fibre on the wall
Sometimes braided, sometimes woven, raffia fibre is easy to handle for the creation of basketry. The fabric editors CMO Paris and Élitis play the sobriety card with their collections of plant coverings that pay tribute to Madagascan craftsmanship. Ecru, honey, havana… The chromatic possibilities are vast. The designer Adrianna Meunié, for her part, wildly enchanted the interior with her Funky Feeling mural.
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Raffia imitated by other plant fibres
Very popular, raffia fibre is often copied and sometimes successfully replaced by other natural fibres. Both supple and malleable, these substitutes broaden the range of possibilities for designers who know how to tame it. This is the case of the Mestiz studio, Proyectos and text.ure, which offer creations made from wool, agave and palm tree fibres. The furniture pieces seem to come to life as if they were fantastical creatures.
At the PAD Paris 2023, interior architect and designer Valériane Lazard won the jury’s heart with her work Ajanta Daybed. A bed where the teak wood structure enters into a symbiosis with a rice straw mattress. Oscillating between decorative and functional objects, Marta Bonilla’s ceramic lamp Dona – reminiscent of a santon from Provence – seems to protect itself from the first rays of the sun with its raffia hat. Finally, the imposing biznaga, a papier-mâché cactus from the Caralarga label, cleverly uses cotton wool to mimic the Andalusian plant’s protruding spines.
The hybrid creations of Goju Ceramics
In love with the combination of materials, the French artist Juliette Godard mixes the lightness of raffia with ceramics, as she would with knitting yarns. Her series of pieces Los Erizos was born from the discovery, in Mexico, of the Pochote tree, with its many sacred thorns, as well as real hedgehogs she came across at a market in Oaxaca.
Raffia re-enchanted by ready-to-wear
Designers, but also fashion designers, are seizing on this trend, like Simon Porte Jacquemus and his spring/summer 2023 collection dedicated to the natural fibre from Madagascar. The idea came to him – with the LESAGE house – to create a new embroidery of singular lightness. Raffia appeared to him instinctively. Extravagant hats, flowery earrings, frayed bustiers… The designer transforms the material in many ways and once again imposes a style full of charm for the arrival of fine weather.
Known for its sustainable and ecological virtues, raffia is seen as a future solution for the textile industry. High fashion houses such as Dior, Rocha and Elisabetta Franchi are getting into the spirit of this trend and are creating new, futuristic clothing designs.
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