Creativity thrives at Nairobi Design Week

Opportunity Factory is hosting this year's Nairobi Design Week, which is in its 9th edition.

Under the theme We Got This, Kenyans will have a chance to experience the talent and creativity of exhibitors, ranging from fashion, art, technology, films and photography.

Every year, the festival selects a theme that resonates with people's lives and feelings, which helps the team curate a unique experience from the many applications they receive.

Event founder and director Adrian Jankowiak said, “At Nairobi Design Week, we see how Kenyans harness the power of design to solve problems.”

Having a variety of exhibitors from different industries each year provides a bigger platform than focusing on a particular industry at a time, he said.

It accommodates more designers and creatives. This unlocks opportunities for Kenyan talents to connect with markets, either locally or internationally, he added.

Designers, most of whom are youths, showcase their work during the design week.

It offers them a platform to give insights into their work and how they are uplifting communities using products made from sustainable, recycled materials.

The exhibition, which runs until the 17th, also gives creatives the opportunity to learn from one another and see ways they can collaborate to promote sustainability, environmentalism and solutions in the craft, fashion and art industries.

Rethread Africa, a team of four youths, is showcasing fabrics made from waste pineapple leaves, which they source from farmers in Bungoma.

The four are Noreen Mwancha, Mitesh Varsani, Vincent Momanyi and Charles Oyamo.

Before, farmers used to burn the leaves, but now they're making an income from them.

Speaking to the Star, Varsani said the idea was born in late 2022, while participating in a competition at the University of Nairobi, where the theme was sustainable fashion.

“Initially, we started with corn husks, but it proved to be a challenge. One, there were competing interests as farmers also used them to feed their animals, and second, it needed a lot of chemicals to extract the fiber from the husks,” Varsani said.

After further research, they settled on pineapple leaves. Since then, they have come up with two variants of the fabrics.

Maisha by Nisria, a fashion and design studio, embraces upcycling and creative use of old clothing and fabrics, transforming them into high-end fashion.

This is different from recycling, which involves destroying waste to create something new.

What Maisha does is breathe new life into old fabrics deemed not useful. In addition, they offer free sewing and fashion design courses to vulnerable individuals who have an interest in the fashion industry to help them grow.

Angela Wanjiku, also a designer, has become adept at fostering inclusiveness by designing clothes for the visually impaired.

She instals braille on the clothes she and her team at Hisi Studio make.

Eart Kenya, on the other hand, recently developed wooden sunglasses made from wood waste, which they source from woodwork shops and carpenters within the community.

Willy Mich from Eart Kenya said for every pair of sunglasses they make, they plant a tree in return.

In addition, there will be a redesign everything challenge (What design can do) for entrepreneurs who have a service, a product and communication ideas that highlight the strides made in circular design and sustainability.

This comes with prize money and an accelerator programme for the winners.

Last year, Kenya had the most entries around the world, and Rethread Africa was selected among the winners for their project of making textiles from pineapple fiber.

Mwancha represented Rethread Africa at the Africa Textile Talks last year in South Africa as a pioneer in sustainable fashion in textile production as a manufacturer.

“I got enlightened on the different stages that all need work in terms of textiles, manufacturing, supply chain and the use of natural fibers in fashion,” she said.

“Furthermore, there's more effort within the continent to make fashion sustainable.”