NAIROBI: Fashion models showcased bold upcycled outfits made from waste collected at dumpsites and market cast-offs on a makeshift runway in Kenya’s largest open-air market.
Every year thousands of tonnes of used clothes from Europe and the United States make their way to Kenya.
Kenya overtook Nigeria to become Africa’s largest importer of second-hand clothing in 2023 according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study.
Thousands of these bales land in Gikomba market near central Nairobi where tin-roofed stalls stretch across a five-acre labyrinth.
A huge crowd gathered to watch models sashay and pivot showcasing pieces from bales once discarded as unwearable or unsellable.
One trader expressed delight watching the show by exclaiming they had upgraded their clothes.
Gikomba Runway Edition brought together young underground Kenyan designers and stylists for the first time including 25-year-old upcycling specialist Morgan Azedy.
Azedy explained he always sees the environment around him dirty and wanted to control pollution.
His Kenyan Raw collection featured streetwear denim and a gothic flair crafted entirely from recycled leather sourced from dumpsites and fashion rejects.
Kenya imported about 197,000 tonnes of second-hand clothes worth 298 million dollars in 2023.
The Environment for Development estimates that around a third are unusable items that end up in landfills mostly made from plastic-based materials like nylon and polyester.
Designer Olwande Akoth once traded in second-hand bales but often felt disheartened by their poor quality.
Akoth described the clothes as just garbage that you cannot even wear or give to a beggar.
The influx of second-hand clothes has employed hundreds of thousands of people across East Africa from port handlers to traders.
This trade has also made it hard for domestic textile firms to get off the ground.
The East African Community of eight regional countries tried to impose a ban in 2016 to boost local textile production.
Recycling lobbyists in the United States opposed the ban and Washington threatened to kick the East African nations out of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
Kenya Tanzania Uganda and others backed down while Rwanda held firm and was suspended from selling clothes under AGOA’s preferential rates.
President Donald Trump’s administration allowed AGOA to expire last month for the whole continent although talks are under way to revive it.
For Azedy the downside of the trade deals means mountains of discarded clothes become a treasure trove for his creative eye.
He explained that buying new fabric is simply too expensive.
On the runway an oversized pair of denim trousers was transformed into a tiered layered jacket paired with flared trousers and platform shoes.
His drive for uniqueness in repurposed pieces earned him a place at Berlin Fashion Week last year.
Azedy now dreams of taking what others consider trash to the grand stages of New York and Paris after styling several regional musicians. – AFP
