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Fashion Special Africa’s Top 10 Male Fashion designers
John Kaveke
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Kaveke told New African Woman that his favourite was the kanga, a traditional fabric worn by East African women, and comes in a variety of bold designs and bright colours. “I like it because of the history that surrounds it,” he explains. “It’s said that kanga is not a kanga unless it has the wise sayings written on it and it’s a metaphor that holds a message
in Swahili (one of Kenya’s national languages). I also like this fabric because of the variety of patterns made of natural cotton grown in the region.” Kaveke also uses leather, denim, recycled fabrics, suede and knitwear, tie and dye cottons, linen, silk and Maasai beads in his creations, which express boldness, vitality and individuality as demonstrated in his Spring Summer 2012 collection ‘Askari Kanga’. He adds that his use of Kenyan fabrics is because “it’s easy to access due to it being locally produced and I want to be part of reviving the local textile industry in Kenya. There is so much rich heritage, yet so little effort to generate a sustainable business from it. It’s time to change that!” Though Kaveke has been likened to a ‘rebel’ by his industry
J
ohn Kaveke is one of Kenya’s leading designers and among the continent’s up and coming talents. He recently showcased a collection at the London Fashion Week, where he wowed audiences with his tailored jackets, shorts and T-shirts dabbed with colourful Maasai beaded necklaces.
With over 10 years experience in the industry, Kaveke started out as a fine art artist but says he wanted more from art than drawing. After discovering his passion for fashion, he went on to study fashion design in Kenya and Spain. While in Spain, he worked for several fashion labels before starting his own label, a bespoke men and women’s line. According to Kaveke, his brand is about the personal touch given to each piece he creates. “I want my client to feel special and important with each design I make for them,” he says. Kaveke is a “contemporary afrocentric lifestyle brand
with a twist of sophistication and edge”, while maintaining a cosmopolitan flair. A big proponent of indigenous Kenyan fabrics,
peers because he pursued a career believed by many Africans to be best suited to women, today his designs can be seen on runways on both sides of the Atlantic, from Nairobi to Lagos, London, Barcelona and New York. He has been involved with numerous projects locally and internationally, including the Sarajevo Fashion Week (Bosnia), Swahili Fashion Week (Tanzania), M-Net Face of Africa (Nigeria), National Dress Design Team (Kenya), Uganda and Hub of Africa Fashion Weeks, Festival for African Fashion and Art (FAFA Kenya) and the International Smirnoff Fashion Awards. Kaveke remains a designer with a sense of ethical responsibility. He is committed to mentoring aspiring designers and the Maasai Women’s Group in Kiserian, which his brand offers sustainable income to by working closely with them. Asked why giving back was important to him, Kaveke says: “I did not come from a well privileged family but had a content upbringing. A lot of what we have was a struggle to acquire. So I learned to share the little I had even if you needed all of it. I have carried this concept in my brand to have a social responsibility to society and thus why I choose to work with local communities.” Kaveke plans to continue building on the foundation of the brand he has created, with a firm focus on ensuring he has a solid base in Kenya, before expanding to other regions of the continent. Belinda Otas
“The use of Kenyan fabrics is because ‘it’s easy to access due to it being locally produced and I want to look at it as being part of reviving the local textile industry in Kenya’.”
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