Kenya: Designers Turn to Kanga, Kikoi to Boost Sales
[2008-3-31]
When Julia Doig first came to Kenya in 1978, she fell in love with the kikoi; a traditional East African sarong. Now, she is the director of the Kikoy Company (Kikoy.com)-a company that commands a satisfactory share of the traditional attire market.
When the company started in 2000, Ms Doig was just selling the sarong, but a year later she started designing and making garments and accessories from the kikoi, which are sold both locally and abroad.
Kikoy.com has three outlets in the country and a fourth one in Zanzibar.
A similar story is that of Roseanne Owiti-Holm, who trained as a biochemist, but her love for the kanga is evident, having a three-year old established fashion shop-Dwara. Her journey started when she was looking for something to wear for an evening outing.
She took her sister's kanga and made a blouse out of it. What started out as a hobby has now turned into a profit-making venture. At first she made a profit of only Sh500, but the business has since grown and most of her clients have to place their orders in advance.
Ms Owiti-Holm is working at exporting more because customers-especially Kenyans in the diaspora want more home-made clothes. Kikois and kangas are indigenous to East Africa especially in the Coast province and were traditionally used as wrap-arounds by both men and women.
When the company started in 2000, Ms Doig was just selling the sarong, but a year later she started designing and making garments and accessories from the kikoi, which are sold both locally and abroad.
Kikoy.com has three outlets in the country and a fourth one in Zanzibar.
A similar story is that of Roseanne Owiti-Holm, who trained as a biochemist, but her love for the kanga is evident, having a three-year old established fashion shop-Dwara. Her journey started when she was looking for something to wear for an evening outing.
She took her sister's kanga and made a blouse out of it. What started out as a hobby has now turned into a profit-making venture. At first she made a profit of only Sh500, but the business has since grown and most of her clients have to place their orders in advance.
Ms Owiti-Holm is working at exporting more because customers-especially Kenyans in the diaspora want more home-made clothes. Kikois and kangas are indigenous to East Africa especially in the Coast province and were traditionally used as wrap-arounds by both men and women.
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