Heritage

Designers make strong fashion statement with recycled materials

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From left: Cultural Stopover’s Wanny Angerer, Vaishali Morjaria, Anne McCreath and Joan Otieno at Michael Joseph Centre last Saturday. Photo | Margaretta wa Gacheru

Fashion shows have practically become common place in Nairobi of late as increasing numbers of youth have come to see it not merely as a matter of what to wear, but as an authentic art form that is attracting increasing numbers of Kenyans who care to promote and develop an indigenous fashion industry.

It has not been easy for that industry in the past few years, especially with the coming of mitumba (second-hand) garments from the West.
But the recent Kenya Fashion Awards held at The Tribe Hotel in Nairobi showed how many young Kenyans want to support indigenous talent.

What’s more, the fashion magazine, Couture founded by Olive Gachera, just celebrated its third anniversary, also indicating the growing interest in the local fashion market.

Last Friday night at the Michael Joseph Centre there was a slightly different sort of fashion show, one of Wanny Angerer’s ‘Cultural Stopovers’. Focused not so much on fashion high-flyers but on fashionistas more concerned with social issues such as recycling of what is perceived to be garbage and transforming it into fashionable garments and accessories.

Consciousness raising event

The evening was actually a multi-purpose affair since Angerer, who is a music and dance therapist, works with a wide range of disadvantaged groups, a number of whom were represented in her fashion show.

For instance, the show was a ‘consciousness raising’ event, organized in aid of the Kenyan Alzheimers and Dementia Support Group. In addition, among the designers were women working in ‘the slums’ like Lilian Wagala, founder of both Magoso School in Kibera and Magoso Africa Designs whose beautifully-tailored garments were modelled by young women also from Kibera.

Most of the other models were either orphans, former street children or others affected by sundry disabilities.

The guest of honour was Kiko Romeo Fashion House CEO Anne McCreath, who is one of the staunchest supporters and promoters of the local fashion industry. Prior to her keynote address, members of the Kenya Boys Choir delighted a house-full crowd with local renditions of reggae songs by Bob Marley.

Kenya Boys Choir director Henry Wanjala was one of the designers specialising in recycling. His fashion collections included hats and dresses decorated in cotton crochet originally made by his late grandmother.

The other designers were Ruth Abade who recycles old leather jackets by re-making them into handbags, award-winning designer Vaishali Morjaria who decorated a lovely second-hand satin gown with lacey Mitumba flowers, and Joan Otieno, a visual artist, created a collection of marvelous dresses covered in plastic bottles, bottle tops and aluminium tops.