Upcyling from Senegal to Germany via SWANE Design

Now on a more personal note..... SWANE Design stands for design and fair trade of accessories, furniture and jewelry made ​​from recycled materials. It is  produced in Africa with social and environmental sustainability. All thier products are custom-made-to-order. Even the client's personal product ideas are welcome!

Who is behind Swane design?

Actually, I'm not surprised it's Selly Wane. I met this very energetic and dynamic woman, while in German language course, a few months after I moved to Germany. We lived in the same dorm, and everyone called her Mama Selly because of the central role she played to pull us together and to ensure that a comfortable atmosphere prevailed. Selly's high pitced voice was an intergrated part of the corridor.."Hey guys, let's eat something together", she invited us to dinner, at least once a week. She remembered every birthday, organizing a small gathering for the birthday child. his was how I got t attend the shortest birthday in my life: 30 minutes! We were all either busy with exams or with a summer job and had completey forgotten it was Mustafa's birhtday. Selly still managed tobring everybody for 30 minutes! There was food and music for 30 minutes! .. Her caring nature was the reason why we gave her the nickname  "welfare bureau". Her talent to build bridges between people certainly played a role in the creation of design Swane.

SWANE designs developed with craftsmen and artists from Senegal, uses traditional techniques combined with creative design and unusual materials to produce  a very special kind of home accessories, furniture and jewelry, which   are not only unique and functional, but also thought provoking. All furniture and accessories are made from recycled materials.A kind of recycling termed "upcycling". In Senegal, SWANE Design has become an establishment in itself, some sort of a mini-industry for young people from poor families. They pave the way to financial independence for young creative entrepreneurs. In this sense, SWANE strives to maintain a fair, above average wages for artisans, as well as  socially justifiable and  healthy products.

Selly was born and raised in Senegal and studied economics in Wuppertal. In order to finance her education, she traded with handicrafts from Senegal. Through her studies and a close cooperation with the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy she got more intensively involved with the issue of sustainability, and began a doctorate on the subject of  "the influence of environmental and social sustainability on shareholder value stock price value of a company". The know-how she acquired, as well as her belief that companies are more successful with an ethical and social commitment, were later put into the form of an innovative company. In addition to SWANE Design, Selly Wane works part-time at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and is active in her spare time promoting dialogues between cultures and religions as well as the integration of immigrants of African origin in Wuppertal.

Kontakt:
Selly Wane
SWANE-Design
Mainzer Str. 48
42119 Wuppertal
Tel.: +49(0)202.37 23 32-0
Mobile: +49(0)179.41 62 387
E-Mail: info[at]swane-fairecycledesign[dot]com