SIAFU is a Kenyan weaving house born in Nairobi, shaped across the continent, and connected to a global design movement. Founded by Gladys Macharia, SIAFU honours the quiet power of craft: the human rhythm of the loom, the warmth of natural fibres, and the beauty of objects made with intention.

Gladys’s journey began in Northern Kenya, where creativity grew from what the land offered: maize, beans, clay shaped into beads. Years later, that same curiosity carried her to Florence, to Italian fine jewelry, and to a deeper understanding of design rooted in history and handwork. When she returned home, she found a gap impossible to ignore: a once-thriving Kenyan textile industry fading into memory, taking with it centuries of skill and culture.

SIAFU exists to ensure those skills not only survive, but evolve.

Our Nairobi workshop is home to a growing collective of weavers who transform heritage techniques into textiles that feel distinctly modern, refined, soulful, and unmistakably African. We create with purpose, training new generations, expanding opportunities, and building a future in which Kenya’s weaving traditions are recognised on the world stage.

At its core, SIAFU is a conversation between craft and culture. Every piece is a story of place, process, and community, woven slowly to live beautifully in spaces that value connection and belonging.

This is design shaped by many hands. This is African craft made to last.