Our Story
Life is tarnished, broken, and imperfect.
And yet for the eye looking for it, the glimpse of its former glory is resplendent through it all.
Marred, Yet Beautiful
You might see, for instance, a scratch mark on the leather, and your mind wonders to the mist filled early mornings under the African skies.
It’s still chilly outside and the sun is not born yet. You feel the earth under your feet damp with dew. And you hear the wooden door behind you crack.
The boy and his cattle emerge. The cattle moo and you see smoke rising from their nostrils. The cattle move and you hear their bells clanging. Out they go, in the chill, for their morning outings. You follow slowly behind. And you see them wander through natures’ thorny bushes and unkempt woods as they toil in search of their food.
Or you might feel the scorching heat of noon striking your head and see under the haze of your sweat and the flaming mirage two oxen struggling silently under a yoke to plow the earth and bear the burden of providing bread not only for their poor farmer but also, along with millions of their fellow yoke bearers, for the whole country.
The Founding
After working for nearly a decade with orphans and impoverished families, founder Mrs. Furtuna Mario began to work as an in-country representative for a USA-based fashion company.
But through her experience working there the thought dawned on her that she could establish a business which would exploit the rich tradition of leather craft in Ethiopia and provide a means enough not only to support her and her family but also other women and their families.
This, she thought, was a perfect fit to combine her heart for social work with business. And so, early in 2017, she founded Fayda Bags.
Our Philosophy
Our company and the items we make are just an endeavour for the reflection of that. We are about the celebration of the marred yet beautiful. We don’t seek to create beauty to cover life’s blemishes; rather we seek the redemption of the fallen.
And through redeeming the former we long for a future perfection. That is why we seek to bring fayda into our craft and lives. For when we celebrate the ashes today, we hope for the phoenix tomorrow.
Fayda is a company founded upon two main value pillars, namely people empowerment and craftsmanship.
To bring about good in our society we endeavour to empower individuals, especially women. We do this through providing those who never had the chance to do so the opportunity to go to school and train for crafting skills in leather work. Those whom we train we provide with livable wage paying jobs.
As Ethiopians are empowered to provide a living for themselves and their families, we believe a noticeable dent has been made in the grain of our society.
Secondly, we are all about hand crafting things—the time-tested and traditional way of making things. In a day and age where everything is about speed, stats, and AI, we seek to go back to our humanity, slow down…, and find beauty in our unmasked organic imperfections. So from the materials we use to the way we make our products, we go all the way traditional with palms and fingers.
It is of our vision to see Ethiopian craftsmanship in general and its leather craftsmanship in particular grow in its craft and popularity. As crafting grows, so also finding beauty in the marred grows. And as beauty intensifies all round us, we believe, hope for the dawn will thrive as well. Moreover, we envision, as the craft advances, to see many people turned craftsmen/women find their purpose and voices in it.
Our Fabrics
The leather we use in our products is full grain leather sourced right here in Ethiopia.
Unlike most other places, the leather we get here comes from organic animals with a lot of history—meaning, the animals were not raised in a system-farm, rather they were free roaming, most of whom would have been farmers all their lives until they’re slaughtered for food.
And this history is not theirs only but also the people with whom they share it. Their skin is filled with markings and scars to tell you how much they’ve lived and bore the weights of life.
