Barefoot is a textile design company based in Sri Lanka, which exports its clothing and soft furnishings globally. Barefoot has two retail stores in Colombo and one store in Galle.
History
In 1964, Barbara Sansoni, a colourist, artist and textile designer, at the suggestion of an Irish nun, Sister Good Counsel of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, became involved in a programme established by the convent in Wattala that taught young impoverished Sri Lanka women how to weave.[1] Sansoni with her then husband, Hildon, established and financed four village weaving centres.[2] Sansoni's initial involvement mainly related to the design aesthetics of the material being produced.[3]
Sansoni then began to sell the weavers' products from her home.[1]