Can Uganda Embrace Sustainable Fashion? Kwetu Kwanza 2024

The annual Ugandan sustainable fashion event, Kwetu Kwanza 2024, demonstrated Uganda's potential to embrace sustainable fashion. This platform aims to motivate, educate, and empower designers while showcasing emerging talents and innovative creations.

This year's edition brought together participants from Kenya, Rwanda, Japan, and Uganda, including dancers, sustainable fashion designers, visual artists, and filmmakers. They convened to discuss environmental challenges, consumption limits, and share hopeful messages toward a more conscious fashion future. The event took place at the Office Grant Road in Jinja.

2 g Participants: Kwetu Kwanza 2024

"We create spaces for meaningful interactions, skill-sharing, and dialogue," the organizers explained. "IGC Fashion empowers emerging designers, artisans, and individuals from marginalized backgrounds to showcase their talents and contribute to a more inclusive and conscious fashion industry. Our event aims to spread awareness about the impacts of unsustainable fashion consumption and waste."

1 g Participants: Kwetu Kwanza 2024

Uganda's fashion and textile narrative is rich and complex. With more than 50 local fashion designers many still unknown to the broader public, the country's fashion industry has deep roots in its cotton production.

Cotton remains a pivotal element in Uganda's economic and textile landscape. According to the Cotton Development Organization (CDO), it is the country's third-largest export crop after coffee and tea, supporting 259,000 households. These farmers cultivate cotton under rain-fed conditions, using minimal fertilizers and chemicals.

cotton 1 1 Farmers harvesting cotton in Uganda [Photo Credit: NT ]

The CDO reports that Uganda has 40 ginneries with an installed seasonal ginning capacity of approximately one million bales of lint production, significantly exceeding historical production levels.

Despite its cotton resources, Uganda faced significant challenges in textile consumption. In 2020, the country was among the largest importers of second-hand clothing in the region. Trade figures revealed that Uganda imported around 1,500 tons of second-hand clothing annually from the United States alone, with an additional 2,000 tons from the UK, Canada, and China.

"Most of these clothes end up in landfills," an expert noted. "It's crucial to support young fashion designers who take initiatives to rescue these garments from dump sites, clean them, and give them new life. This is something all African nations can embrace, though many remain skeptical of such approaches."

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Kwetu Kwanza 2024: A Sustainable Fashion Showcase

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The event's displays revealed a growing sustainable fashion movement among young designers. Participating designers included Seamline Atelier, Motley Minds, Nakimuli Minori, Sanvra, MASA MARA, My Fashion Biography, Quill Clothing Ug, Maisha by Nisria, Amylia Clothing, ORM Streetwear, and IGC Fashion.

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However, challenges remain. As one fashion enthusiast pointed out, "We need these creators to educate the public about caring for upcycled clothes. Many people don't understand how to wash these garments, which often have unique fabric combinations and may not fit traditional washing methods."

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The Visionaries Behind the Movement

IGC Fashion, a Kampala-based brand founded in 2017 by Kasoma Ibrahim and Katende Godfrey, stands at the forefront of this sustainable fashion revolution. Drawing inspiration from African tradition, heritage, and culture, the brand promotes fashion as a tool for positive social change.

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The event's name, "Kwetu Kwanza," derives from Swahili, translating to "Ours First." This philosophy encapsulates their core mission: safeguarding our planet as our primary responsibility. As Uganda continues to explore sustainable fashion, events like Kwetu Kwanza 2024 offer hope for a more environmentally conscious and innovative textile industry.

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