A model on stage clad in attire designed Akinyi Odongo (left), accessories on display at the Urban African Fashion Company at The Hub (centre) and a model in Akinyi Odongo's attire during the ongoing 14th Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD14) at KICC. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA |
What you need to know:
Local designers cut with precision, refine their stitching to create high quality outfits and accessories.
On a fashion journey to woo luxury buyers, young local designers are accelerating their tailoring machines.
With fine fabrics and accents, elaborate details on the unique creations, neat stitching, extra attention to seams and buttons, local designers are giving their collections a better finishing.
At The Hub shopping mall in Nairobi’s Karen, more than 15 local designers have leased space from which they sell their refined pieces.
“We aim is to show buyers what local talent has to offer in an accessible place. It is a great way of reaching customers,” said Jess Maina, the head of operations at the Urban African Lifestyle Company which represents the local designers.
WazaWazi, Katungulu Mwendwa, Urban Artefacts, Loyangalani and Peggie O, among other designers selling at The Hub, source their raw materials with precision, the stitching is meticulous and the final product is high-quality.
They have shifted from traditional tailoring to cutting materials into architectural and artistic designs. Their aim; to entice the luxury consumer.
The designers sell ‘Made in Kenya’ clothes, interior decor accessories, jewellery and pure leather products.
The Urban African Fashion Company store at The Hub.
Chebet Mutai, the founder of WazaWazi, a local company that designs and makes leather products said her high-end consumers are very categorical in what they seek: functional, timeless, world-class pieces.
Big potential
‘‘They pay attention to aesthetics, value, quality and craftsmanship. For them, the pieces are expressions of states of mind: of individuality and belonging,’’ she said.
Besides selling locally, WazaWazi exports its pure leather bags to Scandinavian countries and especially Germany. There is a big potential in the luxury market.
Fashion customers demand high-quality clothing, new looks every season, and prompt and reliable delivery of the promised goods, the Kenyan Textile and Fashion Industry report released last month noted. And this is the market that young designers seek to fill.
But will the luxury consumers shop locally?
“African consumers are demanding of the highest quality. If not delivered locally, they’ll be on the next flight to Dubai or London to shop,” Fred Deegbe, the CEO of Heel the World, a Ghanaian shoe company said at an African Luxury Forum.
Most of the rich and the rising middle-class favour international brands. Popular luxury stores in Nairobi stock Escada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Zzegna, Armani, Santoni, Peter Kaiser; all international brands.
In most of these shops, local designs are rarely stocked, limiting luxury customers to brands they have known or trusted for years.
For a select few with taste, fashion comes to them. Little Red brings in Hugo Boss, Brioni, Armani, Corneliani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Stefano Ricci and Santoni for the made-to-measure fittings. And after a few weeks, the master tailors fly back to Kenya with the complete suits for fitting.
It is a convenience for the discerning buyer.
“Unfortunately we do not stock products by the local designers because of the space. But we would love to, I mean the designs are incredible and beautiful,” said Aziz Fazal, the director of Little Red.
“We are still searching for a bigger space and if we get it, we will dedicate an entire floor to them,” he said.
UK attraction
For now, Africans are still attracted to the UK due to a wider luxury offering, noted an African Luxury Forum report.
Nigerians shop for luxury in the UK and Dubai; Angolans in Portugal and Brazil; Ivorians in Paris; Ethiopians in the USA and South Africans spend a lot on luxury domestically. Kenyan luxury buyers are no different.
They shop in Paris, London, Dubai and in duty-free shops globally.
Spending on luxury goods will rise in-line with the expansion of wealth. Kenya has the a fast growing middle class and wealthy class.
Local designers aim to woo the proud Afro-conscious luxury consumer from Africa and beyond.
‘‘We are targeting the consumer who is always looking for fresh, authentic and inspiring pieces from exotic destinations,’’ said Ms Mutai of WazaWazi.
Wangari Nyanjui, the co-founder of Peperuka, a Kenyan company that makes limited edition apparel and accessories, said local designers have seen an increased demand for products that tell the African story.
There is growing preference for fashion that exhibits a sense of commitment to communities and the environment, a trend that has guided the designs.
“Over time, we have noted that well-travelled customers appreciate products made from organic cotton because they tend to have witnessed first-hand the damage that inorganic materials cause to the environment,” she said.
Under one shop
Selling under one shop, the designers are now able to give customers more options and new clothing lines frequently. “As a designer you do not want to live in a bubble and we need to engage each other from time to time,” said Nicola Hankey-Onyango, the co-founder of Urban Artefacts, a jewellery company.
Urban Artefacts has in the past teamed up with Planet Hiitu, a German lifestyle brand, and Ami Shah, a local jewellery designer and maker, better known through her brand I Am I.
Pop-up retail spaces
Aside from teaming up to set up permanent shops, shopping malls such as Nairobi’s Yaya Centre and the Village Market are giving pop-up spaces to local designers to sell to on-the-go customers.
Diana Opoti, a fashion consultant, is the face behind Designing Africa Collective, a retail pop-up service that works to introduce new fashion brands to the local market.
She sets up campaigns to showcase new designs to the market. Her “100 days of African fashion” is one of her recent campaigns, which went viral and showcased products made by designers in Africa through various social media platforms.
Online shops like Etsy, ArtFire and Shop Soko have also broadened the reach for tech-savvy customers across the globe.
Open door
However, as the fashion market looks bright, the challenge is the little support for arts as a career which may bring in even better full-time designers.
John Kaveke, a celebrated fashion designer said it was hard to convince his parents to let him study fashion design as his peers took conventional courses.
“We used to have a tailor running a small shop on the block where we stayed and for a long time my parents used him as an example to try and dissuade me from the career,” he said.
“Is that the person you want to end up being?’’ they often asked, as I tried to make them understand that there are endless opportunities in the field.”
His push paid off and he has exhibited some of his work in some of the world’s fanciest platforms, with his designs now fetching good prices.
But the prices for locally-made outfits, ranging from Sh15,000 to Sh150,000 are way below what a Kenyan shopper spends on an international brand.
For a long time, designers have been forced to keep their prices low to catch customers attention, but the strategy has not paid off. Customers skip them to pay premium prices for foreign brands.
