Tessuti | Facteur Céleste

Tessuti is one of my favourite homeware stores to visit in Auckland. With a natural talent for curating beautiful products, owner Ali McIntosh is also passionate about creators, having recently started hosting a series of Meet the Maker evenings in store. Drawn to products that tell a story, Ali supports small artisan communities, with Tessuti introducing us to some incredible creative initiatives from around the world. One of these is Facteur Céleste, a range of black and white baskets produced by a group of women in the impoverished African nation of Burkina Faso. Striking to look at (and a dream to style), they are actually hand-made from plastic bags. A real plague for the environment, the Facteur Céleste workshop is not only helping to eradicate pollution through this incredible artistic recycling, it is enabling women in need. Set up by Delphine Kohler who founded the non-profit organisation Filles du Facteur in 2008, the idea came from the unique Facteur Celeste lifestyle boutique in Paris, where workshops were held to find creative uses for recycling plastic bags. By introducing the idea to Burkina Faso, Delphine has enabled the women to achieve financial independence as well as access to health and eduction.

As you can see the gorgeous monochrome baskets add a touch of texture and vibrancy to any room. Available in a range of sizes and unique designs, they are also really practical. Strong and durable, they are perfect for housing plants, but you can use them for all kinds of storage. I've used them here for my jewellery and office bits and bobs, but they'd also be ideal for the bedside, bathroom products or even as a fruit bowl in the kitchen.

Styling and photography by Michelle Halford for TDC

The baskets are available exclusively from Tessuti, both online and in store.

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