ASOS Made in Kenya Collection Is the Definition of Cultural Appreciation
The relationship between the fashion industry and the continent of Africa is tenuous at best. African countries like Kenya and Ghana have long served as inspiration for the runway, but they're rarely credited by designers or afforded the same reverence as European countries. When brands produce collections inspired by Africa — often viewing the continent through a monolithic lens — their designs are rooted in reductive stereotypes and riddled with tribal clichés. What's more, local African designers and artisans are seldom given a seat at the table or compensated for their ideas.
Now that these disparities are being brought to light, designers are claiming that this criticism — and the concept of cultural appropriation in general — blocks the natural flow of inspiration within the fashion industry. That's simply not true. There are several brands that draw inspiration from African countries, giving credit where it's due and employing African artisans and seamstresses. The ASOS Made in Kenya line is one shining example. Worn by the likes of former First Lady Michelle Obama, the brand is known for its exuberant prints and colors inspired by Kenyan landscapes. What many don't know, is that ASOS is also committed to giving back to the community they're inspired by. In collaboration with clothing manufacturer SOKO, ASOS employs local factory workers and pays them living wages, operates a local stitching academy for girls, provides financial literacy training, funds primary and elementary schools, and supplies eye-care, sanitary napkins, and rain catchers for clean drinking water.
To celebrate the launch of the new unisex ASOS Made in Kenya collection — a collaboration with supermodel Leomie Anderson, Beats 1 DJ Julie Adenuga, and Kenyan street style fashion duo 2manysiblings — Teen Vogue traveled to the Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary in Kenya to see the factory for ourselves. Scroll through for images from our visit and to shop the new collection.
1/10The ASOS Made in Kenya line (originally named ASOS Africa) was borne in 2009 in partnership with SOKO, a clothing manufacturing unit founded by Joanna Maiden. Since its inception, a commitment to ethical production, sustainability, and community empowerment have been crucial parts of the brand's ethos. "I moved [to Kenya] nine years ago with the dream of setting up SOKO," Joanna recalled. "I looked into where you could learn the story behind your clothes. What I saw then was so little connection between the people who make the clothes and the people who wear them. There's so little out there for consumers, around workers' conditions and ethics in clothing manufacturing." The collaboration with ASOS happened organically. "After seven months in Kenya looking at what the country was like as a place to manufacture, what the skill base was, what fabrics were available locally, I put a capsule collection together using local fabrics," she explained. "I managed to get an appointment through a friend with the design director at ASOS, and she loved it."
While the brand was an immediate hit among consumers, even becoming a favorite of former First Lady Michelle Obama, the Kenyan community that inspired it continued to suffer. "I saw that there were real needs that my employees had that as a business we couldn't meet," Joanna shared. "The embroiderers, for one, weren't coming back when we had work and I didn't understand why. It was because they were struggling with their eyes. And then I started talking to the machinists, and I learned they were paying up to three quarters of a month's salary on glasses. So, I thought if you're doing that and you have a secure job, what is everyone else doing? And that's when we started doing the eye clinic, distributing reading glasses to those that need to get cataract surgery." SOKO pays half the cost for services at the eye clinic, making eye-care more accessible.
Their financial literacy program evolved in the same way. "Our employees had crazy loans to pay for school fees that they needed to then pay again in three months, and banks were coming to the offices and saying 'your employee hasn't paid their loan for the last three months, so we're blocking their account. We're taking all their salary." The financial literacy program operates out of a support hub SOKO created for women looking for employment. At the hub, they're trained on business skills and group service, but also on how to invest, save, and manage debt. "We encourage them to save 30% of every payment they receive to put toward their business," shared Victoria, a project manager at SOKO. "At the end of the program, SOKO comes in and matches what they have and buys the items and equipment they'll need to operate their business using the money they saved. And then we leave them to start their business."
That push toward entrepreneurship is SOKO's way of helping to decrease the area's unemployment rate, currently one of the highest in the country. "It's so high," Joanna explained, "that many women are finding themselves in prostitution just to put food on the table for their families." When the brand first launched, Joanna spread the word that she needed machinists. The most qualified applicants were coming from major Kenyan cities, not from the area where the factory is housed. "I'm passionate about creating jobs here, so that's where the Stitching Academy was borne. Let's train people locally, give them the skills they need, and then hire them."
2/10Alongside unemployment, the area has a high rate of prostitution and HIV/AIDS, and a low primary-to-secondary school transition rate. It's an especially challenging environment for young girls. "Girls' education is not considered that important compared to the boys' education," explained Victoria (pictured), who grew up near the area. "I come from more or less the same background as they are in. If I had someone who motivated me, someone who pushed me to go to school, I can't tell you where I would be right now. Most of my neighbors didn't make it up to secondary level. And if they did make it up to secondary level, they never finished school." She cited early pregnancies and marriages as one of the many factors that prevent girls from getting their education. "Girls are seen as property. Because when you're married off, the [husbands] pay dowry. And I'll say that because I've gone through that." Victoria's father wanted to marry her off immediately after her schooling, she revealed. "I stood my ground, but if a girl is not educated and hasn't gone to school, she doesn't know her rights. If she's told to get married, she will do it. She's now there as a housewife with no income of her own." That lack of financial independence can have dire consequences for women. If a woman is a victim of domestic violence, for instance, it's that much more difficult for her to leave an abusive partner who is the sole breadwinner of the household.
"So [many responsibilities] fall on the woman," Joanna added. "She's raising a family while also working on the land, or trying to do something to generate income." While most of the brand's initiatives were created to empower women in the community, Joanna is intentional about uplifting young men, too. "Listen, if the family needs a child at home, it will always be a woman. Women feel a lot of pressure to marry young to get a dowry for the family. So, [the odds are] stacked up against them. Our thinking is, what can we do to make it equal? It's not about raising the women up and pushing the men down. It's just about making it more equal."
To help create equal access to education, ASOS is not only funding primary schools in the area, but they also created a stitching academy for young girls where they can learn tangible skills. After two-month tailoring courses, young girls are better equipped to find manufacturing jobs, work in the SOKO factory, or start their own business. But the training is just the beginning. Young girls also find mentorship in women who look like them, women who are educated, successful, and financially independent. "I never had anyone growing up," Victoria shared. "But, now, these girls have me to look up to and to motivate them." There's also the sense of community the stitching academy provides. "When they meet other girls and women who are empowered, they're able to spread ideas and view their lives and futures differently."
3/10Social issues like poverty and early marriage may block a young child from getting their education, but there's another major factor that prevents them from attending classes: their period. Students who can't afford sanitary napkins will miss weeks of school and fall behind in classes to the point they can't catch up with their peers. "We did a pilot study in a local school and absenteeism is very high, especially with the girls," said Victoria. "And we found that it was because of their monthly periods. The toilets are not secure, they have no door. And pads are expensive: the cheapest is 50 shillings and there are others for 80 shillings. If your parents cannot afford a meal, will they afford a pad? No." Instead, many students use rags and stop coming to school when they're menstruating.
SOKO devised a way to provide sanitary napkins to the community at a lower cost, while also employing women at the support hub and reducing waste. "We have scrap materials at the factory that we use to make sanitary towels. And the beauty of this program is we are teaching our girls at the hub to help us make them," shared Victoria. "And they can then go sell them to the community at a reasonable price and also make a living." They're hoping to expand the sanitary pad project across Kenya. "I'd love for it to be a national thing where there are people all around the country selling pads that are made here," Joanna revealed. "And obviously that means that women who are trained, who maybe don't want a job [outside the home], can make them at home while raising children and running a household."
4/10The new collection launch marks the first time the brand's collaborated with influencers during the design process. They tapped Velma Rossa and Oliver Asike, of the brother-sister duo 2ManySiblings, to create several pieces for the line (one design is pictured above). Velma and Oliver were immediately attracted to the project because of how the brand is uplifting the community. "The brand giving back is amazing, because that's one of the things that we believe in," Oliver shared. "[The factory workers] are not just making clothes; they're learning skills, they're creating businesses, they're now able to take care of their families. We visited the rain catchers, and it was amazing to see that because this area is so dry. There are so many droughts." Meeting the factory workers was an emotional moment for Velma, who helped design the pieces over an 11-month period. "It's emotional in the sense that you get to attach a name and face to the person making the product and you can see how your design is making an impact on someone else's life and livelihood."
As Nairobi-based style influencers, Velma and Oliver are well aware of the fashion industry's fraught relationship with Africa. "What's important is just an acknowledgement of some techniques that were birthed here, and have always been here," Velma said. "Without social media, the West always claimed certain techniques to be theirs like the Maasai cloth, or if you go to West Africa, the Batik styles. They'll be incorporated in some high-end fashion campaign, and it's [promoted like] those designers came up with the idea, when it's been in Africa passed down from generations and generations. I'd just like to see an appreciation and acknowledgement of some things that are originally African, and the West should pay some regard." It's also important for designers to recognize that Africa is not a monolithic entity. "What you see in South Africa is different than what you see in Nairobi in terms of fashion," Oliver explained. "In Tanzania, and in Ghana, [certain styles] might look the same, but there's a story behind each piece if you go to the market, or even the sewing techniques are different. There's a lot of diversity and dynamism in African fashion that people ignore."
5/10Supermodel Leomie Anderson is no stranger to the cultural appropriation debate, addressing it in interviews and on her fashion and lifestyle site LAPP. "We're in 2018 now, and we're still seeing culture vultures and people stealing prints, stealing designs, stealing whole collections from people of color and it hurts," she told Teen Vogue. "The fact of the matter is they're also stealing from people who might be in a more impoverished situation, where just by going there and maybe getting the clothes made there or collaborating with the original designers or artists, you would be able to help a community." She believes that cultural appropriation thrives in the fashion industry because several fashion brands lack integrity and values. "A lot of brands don't have souls. What makes the ASOS collection so special is that it does have a soul, and the soul is the people: the people who create it, the people who help look after and nurture the community. That's what a lot of brands are missing. This collaboration was super important to me because not only are they helping to employ people, they're training them to create their own businesses — lifting up a community in the process."
Leomie's collaboration with ASOS marks a full-circle moment in her career, as one of her first shoots was for the UK-based brand. "I've been following ASOS and even the ASOS Made in Kenya collection for a long time, since the beginning of my career really," she revealed. She was particularly excited to infuse her model-off-duty style with the brand's signature colorful prints. "I wanted to do a lot of oversized shapes. I love the idea of cut-out back details and so I added a streetwear element to my collection, which translates really well with the prints and fabrics."
Scroll down to shop select items from the ASOS Made in Kenya collection.
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6/10These printed pants will be the hardest-working item in your summer wardrobe. You can team them with heels and a sheer blouse for an evening event, or slides and a t-shirt for brunch.
ASOS Made In Kenya x Leomie Anderson Pull On Pants In Graffiti Print, $56. asos.com.
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7/10This cute pineapple print set is proof pajamas are meant to be worn in public.
ASOS Made In Kenya PJ Set With Pineapple Print, $38. asos.com.
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8/10From the open back to the elegant tie to the resplendent yellow color, we love every detail about this jumpsuit.
ASOS Made In Kenya x 2ManySiblings High Neck Frill Jumpsuit In Yellow Floral, $87. asos.com.
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9/10A simple one-shoulder silhouette is the perfect complement to this kaleidoscopic print. Pair this with a leather jacket and stacked heels for a night out with friends.
ASOS Made In Kenya x Leomie Anderson One Shoulder Ruched Dress In Graffiti Print, $57. asos.com
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