For us at Firefly Designs Africa · Asia, LLC, the world has always been more about patterns, textiles and people than about sites and food. Personally, I've always been intrigued by color and the magnificence of indigenous global, textile motifs from one side of the globe to another, and the possibilities of mixing and joining textures, fabrics and patterns into "wearable art". I began combining textiles from my private collection about five years ago, and wore the jackets I made on airplanes and to various conferences. Invariably - I would get comments and people even wanting to buy the jacket I was wearing!
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Tesfaye, Representative for Firefly Designs Africa · Asia, LLC in Ethiopia selects and purchases tibeb borders to use with other fabrics for Tseboché design jackets.
Through the support of my husband, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to start designing jackets on a small scale about three years ago. Firefly Designs Africa · Asia, LLC was born, and our "official collections began with the Spring · Summer '05 collection. We have several "signature" pieces that are incredibly popular with our customers and promise to be around for a while.
"Jacket Ladies" are everywhere. They are women pumping their own gas, writing emails, shopping for groceries, attending their child's graduation from college, re-entering university after their children are grown, traveling to teacher conferences, working in museums, going to dinner at an assisted care living facility, working internationally or attending their son or daughter's wedding. In short - "The Jacket Lady" is very special person; one who continues to make a difference in this challenging world of ours.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Shorameda cloth shops - one place where Ethiopian cottons and accents are purchased for Firefly Designs Africa · Asia.
Our garments are made of the finest textiles available with considerations of color, texture and fabric content. Our two trademarked lines are The Jacket Lady and Tseboché, with a variety of items in each - available through our website and trunk sales at various locales. By 2007, we anticipate our two lines will be available retail.
To date, our designs have been primarily for women, (although I must confess that I have designed a few Men's jackets for persistent gentlemen who have "threatened" to purchase a woman's jacket if we didn't design one for him!). Several designs for men will be offered in the Spring · Summer '07 collection. Our Fall · Winter '06 collection will feature carry-bags and a few other accessory items including pajamas.
Nice, France: Selecting cloth from southern France for jackets.
We are especially sensitive to women who are difficult to "fit" and / or impress! It seems that many unique pieces of clothing are either mass produced (and thus not "unique" at all), and / or are not designed for the middle-young woman — her professional and personal lifestyle. The only problem with Firefly Designs Africa · Asia, LLC is that when you WEAR your garment — chances are - someone will stop you and ask you where you got your jacket!
Left: Kesorn, Personal Assistant and Tailoring Supervisor - checking fabrics.
Right: BJ sorting through fabric.
FIREFLY DESIGNS AFRICA · ASIA, WEBSITE CREDITS
Design - Alicia Mickes www.AliciaMickesCreative.com and Heather Watson
Photography - Alicia Mickes, Heather Watson and Terri London