A row of mannequin heads, quietly watching the tailoring process.

This image was found at Miramar Tailors, a women’s clothing tailor shop in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The mannequin heads are used to fit and style the clothing designs, turning what is usually just a practical part of the process into something unexpectedly visual.

There is something interesting about seeing the heads together. Without faces or expressions, they still seem to have a presence of their own. Their simple shapes become part of the atmosphere of the tailor shop, surrounded by the fabrics, colours and activity of everyday work.

What caught our eye is that they are not meant to be decorative. They are tools, there to help shape and present clothing. Yet placed together, they become something else entirely, a small scene that tells you a little about the work happening around them.

When translated into textiles, we kept that same unexpected character. The mannequin heads become a graphic all-over composition, repeating across the fabric and turning an everyday detail from a tailor shop in Ouagadougou into something to carry with you.

A glimpse inside Miramar Tailors, where even the mannequin heads have a role to play.