ITC website
ITC TOOLS
ITC website
ITC TOOLS
ITC website
ITC TOOLS
ITC website
ITC TOOLS
This fall, the Ethical Fashion Initiative brought The Cotton Road to two iconic cities — an exhibition showcasing our work along the cotton value chain and celebrating African craftsmanship and sustainable design from seed to garment.
Amid Milan Fashion Week’s sleek façades and bustling showrooms, a quieter story unfolded – one that began not in Europe, but in the cotton fields of West Africa. From September 25 to 28, EFI partnered with 10 Corso Como and Spring Studios to present The Cotton Road: A Journey from Seed to Garment, transforming the concept store into an immersive, living archive of West African cotton.
Visitors traced the fiber’s path from farmers in Benin and Burkina Faso, through spinners, weavers, and dyers, to the hands of contemporary African designers. The exhibition highlighted the artistry behind each stage of production while also emphasizing innovation, sustainability, and transparency in fashion.
Live demonstrations brought the process vividly to life: Alice Dotti represented Burkina Faso’s artisanal network CABES GIE, while Christine Mintri shared the work of artisans from Benin, including members of the Tetoman cooperative in Natitingou. These sessions allowed visitors to see the meticulous care behind spinning, weaving, and dyeing: a reminder that every garment carries the labor, skill, and stories of its makers.
The exhibition featured five designers selected by EFI to craft exclusive looks rooted in local materials and traditional techniques: Sean Nobayo (Benin), Gaïnga (Burkina Faso), Olooh (Côte d’Ivoire), Numu D (Mali), and Feelinger (Chad). Collaborating with artisanal collectives such as CABES, Studio 4, and Koyibaton, they transformed plant-based dyes, hand embroidery, and beadwork into contemporary fashion, bridging heritage and innovation.
A public roundtable on September 26 extended the conversation beyond the gallery. Moderated by Teneshia Carr of Blanc Magazine, panelists Damien Ajavon, Edward Buchanan, Michelle Francine Ngonmo, and Richmond Orlando Mensah discussed fashion through the lenses of visibility, authorship, and cultural storytelling, emphasizing that inclusion is about infrastructure and systems, not trends.
After Milan, The Cotton Road traveled to Rome for the World Cotton Day celebration at the FAO on October 7. Cotton’s broader significance – sustaining livelihoods, fueling local economies, and carrying deep cultural meaning – was center stage. Africa’s cotton producers and partners showcased how the sector is driving green growth, local value addition and sustainable trade, powering inclusive industrialization and climate-smart growth under the AfCFTA.
Behind the progress is resilience. Across Africa’s cotton heartlands, farmers and artisans are navigating climate shocks, volatile prices and shifting global markets.
At World Cotton Day 2025, the International Trade Centre (ITC) joined the FAO, WTO, UNIDO, ICAC, and African governments – including the Cotton Four (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali) alongside Niger and Côte d’Ivoire – to reaffirm a shared commitment: strengthening the cotton-to-clothing value chain from field to fashion. To read more about the ITC projects featured.
The exhibition again featured live demonstrations of artisanal cotton processing, highlighting spinning and hand-weaving, with Alice Dotti and Christine Mintri representing Burkina Faso and Benin artisans. Visitors witnessed firsthand how traditional techniques are preserved and scaled responsibly, connecting culture, craft, and contemporary fashion.
EFI’s African Vanguard designers presented their second exclusive looks, reinforcing how locally sourced cotton and hand-crafted techniques can meet global fashion standards.
EFI’s contribution to the event also entailed a technical panel: “Cotton Perspectives: Artisanal Transformation of Cotton in C4+ Countries – Cultural Wealth, Opportunities and Key Challenges.” The discussion explored how local cotton transformation in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, and Côte d’Ivoire (the C4+ countries) can drive inclusive and sustainable development, cultural preservation, and youth empowerment.
Panelists included:
The panel underscored both the immense potential and shared challenges facing C4+ countries: from building stronger market linkages and supporting artisans, to ensuring environmental and cultural sustainability.
The tour affirmed that the future of fashion is not only about new materials or trends but about honoring the hands, histories, and stories woven into every fiber. By connecting artisans and micro-producers in emerging economies with global markets, EFI continues to build supply chains that are fair, inclusive, and environmentally responsible, stitch by stitch, across continents.
newsletter
The Ethical Fashion Initiative is a programme of the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.
2025 ©All rights reserved.
