1.Describe your work: What area of fashion & design do you focus on?
Fashion Jewelry and Fashion Accessories
2. What are you most inspired by and what is the core value/driving principle that leads your work?
Sustainability; People, Planet, Profit
3. Has COVID-19 affected your practice as a designer and your approach to your brand?
Yes, it has; we are rethinking the business as a whole; its direction, its growth, its transformation.
4. Can you tell us about your supply chain and the materials you use?
All is made locally, with a few imports of chain and findings. We mostly use recycled/upcycled tools and materials, and we pay our artisans a (more than) fair wage for the products they make for us. We use upcycled cow bone, cow horn, reclaimed wood, and recycled brass for 60% of our line sheet.
5. What does ‘Made in Kenya’ mean to you?
It means that the products are designed and manufactured in Kenya and that Kenya is the bigger economic beneficiary when it comes to job creation.
6. What shifts would you like to see take place in the global fashion industry over the next 5 years?
People want more and more to know who makes their clothes, and where their clothes come from. They can no longer separate the clothing from the people who make them, and the people that design them. There is definitely going to be a bigger focus on artisan-made, handmade, low-carbon footprint, and less overconsumption; people are going to value quality over quantity.
Our social media handles are:
• Instagram: @we.are.nbo
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/wearenbo
• Website: rebrand.ly/wearenbo
• Whatsapp: +254 (0)732 903 906
