Who We Are

Creative Women, a Vermont-based, women-owned company, has worked in partnership with textile studios in Ethiopia, Swaziland, Afghanistan, Senegal, Mali, Bolivia, and Peru. We import traditionally-inspired contemporary accessories and home textiles. More than just designing and selling textiles, Creative Women works to promote equitable trading practices and to support women’s economic independence. “I founded Creative Women because I love beautiful things; I want to make a real difference in women's lives; and I'm fascinated by travel,” founder Ellen Dorsch states with a smile, as she talks about her business. “Creative Women allows me to do all three ... by buying directly from women-owned businesses, by expanding markets for hand-woven textiles, and by paying fair prices for our goods.”

Why We Came to Be

Creative Women began in Ethiopia. It grew out of my experiences and travels. I saw sex workers training to be hairdressers, only to find there were no jobs available. I visited rehab centers where women were sewing and  embroidering beautiful tablecloths, but the only market for their products was a small bazaar for the ex-pats living in Addis Ababa. I realized that by finding markets in the United States, an opportunity existed to improve women's lives and to maintain a centuries-old art form by introducing the West to the beauty of Ethiopian textiles.

Our Partners

Over the past nine years, Creative Women has worked with a variety of different artisan groups and businesses, expanding our geographical and design reach. We’ve worked with cooperatives in Mali and Senegal, experimenting with West African design. From Swaziland, we imported lush mohair products, beautifully hand-dyed at Coral Stephens, Hand-wovens; from Azana, in Afghanistan, we imported elegant hand-woven silk scarves. Each of these groups helped us develop the Creative Women look … simple, rustic, natural textiles, beautiful for their timelessness and high quality.

Today, Sabahar, in Ethiopia, is the primary studio we work with. This studio has grown from 5 people to over 65 full-time employees, while also working with contract weavers, silk farmers, and home-based spinners. Creative Women, perhaps Sabahar’s largest customer, cannot claim responsibility for all this success. However, as we place larger and larger orders, more people are hired to fill these orders … helping Creative Women fill its goal of creating more jobs in places where decent jobs are rare.

In addition to Sabahar, we continue to work with two other Ethiopian studios, plus we recently have begun working with artisans in Bolivia and Peru. From these South American producers, we are now able to bring more winter-weight products to our customers … lush alpaca throws in natural and subtle colors and soft, loosely woven scarves/shawls, unlike most shawls you have seen from that part of the world. It’s been fun trying to think in Spanish again and learning about a new textile. Alpaca truly is a luxurious and elegant fiber and a wonderful complement to Ethiopia’s cottons and silks.

About Creative Women, Today

Now in our ninth year, Creative Women has evolved yet stayed the same. We’ve worked with numerous producers, trying out new partnerships and new products. We’re always interested in new products, particularly those that are high quality and unique. But today, our primary partner is still Sabahar, the first studio we worked with in Addis Ababa.

Our product lines have changed over time. Eight years ago, we heard from many potential customers that our products were lovely and our story important … but, the look was too “ethnic.” Today our products merge the traditional Ethiopian hand-spun with the natural, classic and contemporary. Our customer base has grown, clearly appreciating this clean, authentic look. 

Creative Women products are being sold in stylish stores across the U.S. … in urban area, resorts, and towns where the people are looking for something natural, simple, unique, and beautiful.

"By buying Creative Women products you, too, are
creating beautiful things … in your own life and in
the lives of the hundreds of women we work with."

Ellen Dorsch