The only recent attempt to explore the business of the fashion industry in Kenya was in 2016 when Equity Bank, the Association of Fashion Designers of Kenya and HIVOS did research on the industry’s potential.
The research found that the industry has a huge potential of creating 300,000 new jobs and earning Kenya billions of shillings if the bottlenecks identified are addressed.
Data shows that currently, Kenya earns about Sh35 billion annually manufacture and sale of textile and clothes, according to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. Most of the earnings are from export to the U.S market under the AGOA duty-free market access.
The challenge is with the Kenyan market where textile and clothing manufacturing and sale has been disrupted by imports mainly from Turkey and China. This fact drained revenues out of the fashion industry entrepreneurs.
Despite the challenges, here are Kenya’s top earners from the fashion aspect of clothing.
Diana Opoti of Designing African Collective.
The Public Relations and Communication guru runs a unique fashion boutique dubbed Designing African Collective where she stocks clothing and accessories all made in Africa by Africans.
She focuses on lifestyle, fashion and beauty making global fashion brands known to African consumers and African fashion known to global consumers. Through this consultancy, brands benefit from Diana Opoti’s vast knowledge of the fashion consumer market. We develop specialized campaigns and messaging, adapting your brand stories to suit the local consumer market.
For a long while, men in Kenya would import suits from abroad and especially Italy if they had a special occasion. Now, they would only need to book an appointment with revered contemporary fashion designer John Kaveke based here in Nairobi without having to worry about shipping delays.
Having had the passion in design, he started chasing the dream even before he finished high school through drawing designs in his sketchpad during his spare which affirmed his purpose and vision.
The Pan-African recognized brand Kaveke is bent on catering to the bespoke man by creating clothing with intricate details, precise construction, functionality through made-to-measure suits that set men apart without looking extravagant.
The award-winning designer has become a key figure in the fashion business. His collections have graced runways in some of the most prestigious fashion weeks in London, New York, South Africa, Bosnia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya.
Nancy Mwai of New Level
Nancie is one of the few fashion bloggers who stirred the blogging industry awake with her craft, consistency and growth.
She has had success with styling for shows like Tusker Project Fame, being a fashion writer and now on her way to being a fashion powerhouse. Mwai now runs owns a fashion boutique dubbed New Level, where she tailors and acquires avant-garde clothing for the modern woman.
Her brand is known to understand the transition from college girl to a working woman who needs to look put together from the boardroom to the casual meetings outside of work without looking out of place.
The International Business Administration graduate focuses on image, diversification and quality in what she vends and provides for the modern woman.
Yvonne Odhiambo of Afrostreet Kollektions
She didn’t know that starting an urban and authentic clothing collection would propel her to the heights she has reached today.
She was simply indulging in a hobby she liked. When everyone was wearing bulky Kitenge and African prints with obnoxious shoulder pads, she came into the swing of things and made it fashionable for both men and women to don the motherland fabric.
The fashionpreneur, as she notably refers herself to, has dressed both Kenyan and international celebrities on more than one occasion. Her fashion brand got a great boost after Pan-African artistes at Coke Studio Africa donned her pieces on and off stage. So far, she has dressed artists like Sauti Sol, Vanessa Mdee, Jason Derulo, Kansiime, STL, among others.
Moving on from the casual wear, she now designs stunning red carpet dresses which she says she is always trying to bring clients fantasies to life. Her “kollektions” have been strutted on runways over and again in Kenya through the 8 years she has been in operation. The communication graduate from the University of Nairobi does not shy away from putting herself in the right rooms where she can contribute to how young Africans are seen and addressed.
Zedekiya Lukoye of Narok NYC.
Famously referred to as Zeddie Loky now, the New-York based Kenyan designer specializes in men’s suiting, shirts and custom jeans. He started his brand Blackbird Jeans in 2010 where he would custom make jeans with his partner in their house in Kinoo then sell them in town.
As he advanced in his career, he met a fashion buyer who was impressed by his impeccable stitching, design and attention to detail, who offered to grow the brand to an internationally acclaimed one. Hence, Narok NYC was born. This current brand represents a movement from one sense of style to the next hence naming his brand after the hometown of the Kenyan nomads.
To keep the roots of his business, he also sources fabric from Africa. He likes to give his business a different model where he sells more than a suit. His services include advising on how to wear the particular piece he has sold you and how to break it if need be. Zeddie’s main aim is to give his clients more than they pay for as he is primarily passionate about how men look and feel while wearing his fit.
He has dressed Fashion icons, movie stars, pro athletes, titans of business some of them being Rory Mcllroy, Tyson Beckford, Nick Cannon, Michael K. Williams and the likes who have walked and on the set of BET Awards, PGA Awards and more.