Kenyan designer featured on Times Square billboard 

Very few people ever live to see their names splashed across the bright billboards of the famous New York Times Square, and Kenyan designer Anyango Mpinga is thrilled to have joined this small circle.

Ms Mpinga had her name wrapped around the huge, shiny NASDAQ Billboard through the New York Fashion Week (NYFW) held from February 11 to 16, making her the first Kenyan designer to achieve such a feat.

The name Anyango Mpinga may not ring a bell for many Kenyans, but the young fashion enthusiast has won respect and admiration of her peers globally.

Ms Mpinga has managed to achieve, in close to a decade, what other African designers hope to tick off in a lifetime.

She has already made a mark on the Portugal Fashion Week (2021), Tokyo Fashion Week (2019), Helsinki Fashion Week (2020 Digital), Paris Fashion Week (2018), Lagos Fashion Week (multiple times), New York Fashion Week (February 2022), Via CFDA 360, a platform by the Council of Fashion Designers of America that showcases global brands, AFRIFATA Show in Morocco (2018), Mozambique Fashion Week (2016), 7th Celebration of Silk Showcase in Thailand (2017), Hub of Africa Fashion Week in Ethiopia (multiple times) and multiple runway shows in Kenya, including Tribal Chic at the Tribe Hotel.

She counts among her many accolades being named Designer of the Year in Kenya and internationally ITS @Work, Trieste (2020), Green Carpet Fashion Awards in Milan (2019), International Design Award by the UN ITC (Geneva) in 2016 and most recently being selected as one of 10 Global Women Honorees of the Conscious Fashion Campaign, New York.

“It's exciting and an honour for me to be in such great company. Receiving such an accolade alongside an incredible selection of women whose work in advocacy within the fashion industry I have admired for a long time is nothing short of amazing. As one of the honorees of the Conscious Fashion Campaign (New York), an initiative of the Fashion Impact Fund in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships and the PVBLIC Foundation, I got to see myself on the NASDAQ Billboard at Times Square, at all the NYFW locations. It's surreal to say the least,” Ms Mpinga said.

As a designer, she does not only strive to come out with beautiful designs, but also use fashion as a medium for advocacy.

This is lived through her Free As A Human Foundation, which initially started as a campaign to advocate against modern-day slavery.

“Free As A Human started out of a desire to be of service through my work. I had come across the work of a non-profit organisation called Awareness Against Human Trafficking (HAART) Kenya that was supporting young female survivors of human trafficking.

"That same year when I got to know about their work, I had been working on a project that involved providing new underwear to vulnerable groups, young girls, and women. In my years of volunteering with friends at several children's homes, I noticed that people never donated new underwear. It was always used books, used clothes and dry foods.

"I decided I would focus on buying underwear whenever I travelled as it was cheaper to buy in bulk overseas. After a few encounters with the team at HAART Kenya and learning about their important work and the need for support for shelters like the one they are running, I created an initiative called Free As A Human, to advocate for freedom from modern slavery, which is quite a big problem in Kenya.”

Some of these issues include exploitation of street children, domestic workers or sex workers, child marriages and forced, arranged marriages.

She started off by raising awareness through merchandise such as T-shirts and then donating proceeds to the HAART Kenya shelter, while also collaborating with other people.

“I did a collaboration with artist Onyis Martin, whose work explores contemporary urban environments and the ways in which our experiences within these spaces are shaped by politics of ownership and access, movement and displacement.

"I also did a collaboration with Sandstorm Kenya, to produce bags in support of Free As A Human that are currently selling. Free As A Human is officially registered as a non-profit in the US. We did it with the support of Trust Law - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"The focus for the foundation shifted from simply making T-shirts, which I still do through my own brand, to creating a structure that can provide education through scholarships and skills training for survivors of trafficking,” she said.

Fashion design is one of the major industries that has relied on the exploitation and use of modern slavery.
Ms Mpinga says the Conscious Fashion Campaign-New York, during New York Fashion Week, was a great way to highlight her work as a social entrepreneur and the importance of businesses thinking beyond profit alone.

Conscious fashion is a trend that is quickly catching popularity in Kenya and around the world. According to Ms Mpinga, conscious fashion should be all encompassing and intersectional in nature. It means holding conversations around inclusion and racial justice, social inequalities and economic injustice as part of the creative process.

“We all live on this earth, and we need each other to succeed so this approach to design is fundamental in achieving progress and creating an industry that is sustainable. It also means that we prioritise our well-being, the environment and the people who make our clothes,” she explains.

She says there's a lot of innovation that is proving to be beneficial in how designers produce and even consume products. A good example is bio-design, which is the use of living organisms in designs and can be used to create textiles and even pigments to dye fabrics. There is also technology such as 3D design, which has helped minimise some of the waste produced by the fashion industry by integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in product development.

“In 2020, I was part of a residency with Helsinki Fashion Week, which was a digital-only showcase due to the pandemic and the limitations it posed on physical fashion shows. I presented a design that was showcased on my own virtual Avatar, created by a digital artist.

"Later that year, I collaborated with 3D digital artist Yifan Pu, to create a digital collection called the Pupil. I wanted to challenge the way I would present the collection, so I created a campaign featuring a selection of women based around the world to join the campaign. I asked each woman to send me their photos wearing underwear,” Ms Mpinga said.

“Their bodies were then dressed virtually with the 3D digital garments, without them having to leave their homes for fittings and without me having to create physical garments. The campaign was a great hit and it also served as a good way to showcase my work, without having to leave my home, during a global pandemic. My 3D garments are also now showcased on an app called DREST. DREST is the world's first luxury fashion styling game, where gamers can curate exclusive looks from their favourite global designer brands,” she added.

If you have been a fan of Ms Mpinga’s designs, then you know that she always tries to incorporate history and advocacy into her dresses.

She pays homage to the transition of the collection from a 3D digital Campaign highlighting social justice. Each garment has a de-constructed element and is made in a textured silk Jacquard that has an animal print base and cotton broderie anglaise, another brand signature.

They include deconstructed shirt dresses with fine details such as detachable waists and sleeves, creating an element of romance while maintaining architectural influences in garment construction. The collection features two prints: The first pattern, the signature AMU print, is inspired by Swahili architecture found at the Kenyan coast, more specifically Zidaka Niches, which are intricate wall carvings used to place ornaments and lamps in homes across the coast. 

The second pattern is the ASILI print, featuring some of the wildlife protected in Kenya by the Lewa Wildlife conservancy, such as the endangered black rhino, the Grevy's zebra, giraffes and elephants. The ASILI print also features the brand's signature dotted patterns, which capture the stories and faces of individuals living and working around Lewa Wildlife Conservancy — as well as the tangible shift in the environment from the bustling streets of pre-pandemic Kenya to the ongoing challenges and resilience of Kenya’s communities.

Her take on Africa becoming a leader in the fashion industry: “We’re definitely catching up but we're not there yet. I think it's because stakeholders still don't view the fashion industry as an industry worth investing in and yet Sub-Saharan Africa's apparel, textile, and footwear market is estimated to be worth $31 billion. The education system also needs recalibration to prepare designers for the business of fashion. I spend a lot of my time playing an advisory role on a personal level as well as in partnership with global institutions. 

“Last year I was one of the advocates and mentors for the Swarovski Foundation's Creative For Our Future Programme, a new global grant programme designed with adviser United Nations Office for Partnerships to identify and accelerate the next generation of creative leaders in sustainability. 

“We saw very few entries from African countries so this year it would be great to see more African creatives participating in the programme so they can learn about the industry from global leaders. The programme is open to all creatives worldwide aged 18 to 25 from disciplines including fashion, design, art, architecture, science, technology and engineering.”

But as a continent, she says there is one front that we have been leading, which is sustainable fashion.

“I think by default the fashion industry in Africa has been a bit more sustainable than our global counterparts. We have a culture of making what we need and taking pride in upcycling products,” Ms Mpinga says.

“In Africa, we still value made to measure, which is essentially more sustainable than overproduction... The level of authenticity and creativity in Africa is unmatched and there is a greater sense of investing in artisanal communities and preserving our culture, which in itself is sustainable.” 

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