Green is the new black
From Guinea to the Gambia, eco-fashion is starting to hit the streets of West Africa. Kate Thomas reports on the fashion trend that doesn’t leave a bitter taste in the mouth
It’s Friday night and the Palais de la Culture in Abidjan is buzzing. In the Fashion Room, leggy models swathed in African silks, emerald green head scarves and embroidered dresses are gliding along the catwalk. As each girl makes a final twirl, the audience breaks into hoots and applause.
Among those cheering is Ivorian eco-designer Maimouna Camara Gomet. She really ought to be the star of the show. Five years ago, Gomet combined her love of fashion with a commitment to the environment and created a sweet clothing line made entirely from used cocoa bean sacks (the Ivory Coast is the world’s leading exporter of cocoa). “The concept is called waboua,” she says, smiling. “It means you shouldn’t throw anything away.”
Across fashion-savvy West Africa, other designers are following in Gomet’s carbon-conscious footsteps. From Conakry to Cameroon, the fashion set is beginning to take an interest in the needs of local communities and the environment. Some are already exporting eco-lines, such as recycled bags, beads and shoes, to Europe and the United States.
Even the United Nations has picked up the baton, launching the Africa Inspires initiative in conjunction with development agencies earlier this year. It aims to bring together African designers, manufacturers, buyers, government officials and NGOs for an open dialogue on how to boost ethical fashion in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s already working. Fairly traded and eco- friendly fashion houses are slowly springing up, from Abidjan’s edgy Treichville district (home to Gomet’s boutique) to the streets of Yoff in Dakar.
This corner of West Africa has always been about clothes and music. Wander down the main thoroughfares of Conakry, Banjul and Dakar and you’ll see flashes of colour, huge accessories and women dressed in perfectly co-ordinated outfits.
In the shade of Abidjan’s baobab trees and skinny pink skyscrapers, fashionistas gather to chat. Walk the streets of the Plateau, with its shimmering office buildings that pierce the blue African sky, and you’ll hear the click of high heels. It’s no wonder the city sometimes feels like a mini Manhattan. If it weren’t for Gomet, the cocoa plantations of rural Ivory Coast might feel a million miles away.
“The Ivory Coast’s economy is based on agriculture such as cocoa and coffee, so I decided to promote these crops by creating these designs,” Gomet says, showing off a frayed beige top stamped with the words “Cocoa: Product of Cote d’Ivoire”. Her range – produced and sold on the premises – includes skirts, trousers, tops, hats and bags that look great with African beads and accessories.
Some 1,795km away in Dakar, designer Dasha Nicoué has bought in to a similar philosophy. Last year she spearheaded the event Bio Top, aiming to marry fashion and eco-awareness. Her inspiration? “Plastic waste. We have it everywhere. Packaging, bottles, wrappers… In Senegal, a vast number of plastic bags are discarded every day, and they will take at least 400 years to decompose,” she says.
As part of the event, Nicoué encouraged young designers to create outfits from old plastic bags. Among the spectators were big names from the West African fashion scene, including Ivorian designer Maseyni Ouatara and Micheal Gamor, who owns a fashion house in Ghana. Nicoué says she would love to see Senegal produce environmentally friendly packaging in the future, perhaps from plantain or manioc fibres.
Also in Senegal, up-and-coming designer Oumou Sy, who typically sticks to tried and tested materials, has begun experimenting with unwanted African music CDs. She breaks them into tiny pieces and uses them as sparkles on dresses and skirts. And two years ago, expatriates working in Liberia created Cassawa, an initiative that pays excellent wages to talented Liberian designers and tailors in return for gorgeous, fairly traded clothes, available both on the rack and made to measure.
West Africa may have its finger on the fashion pulse, but the eco tide is sweeping across East Africa too. In the Ugandan town of Kyambogo, south of Kampala, women who fled violence between the government and the Lord’s Resistance Army are making necklaces from recycled paper. The creations are quite spectacular. Offset with blue and green ink, individual beads are rolled from discarded newspapers – if you squint, you might be able to read part of a headline or date. The necklaces are sold in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya.
Likewise designer Pippa Small, who has collaborated with Gucci and Chloe, is going green with her new jewellery line. Her latest collection, for UK fashion hothouse Topshop, includes pieces created from discarded bits of brass and assembled in Kenya’s sprawling Kibera slum. “The aim is to improve the lives of these communities by providing fair wages and employment in a country where very few international fashion companies invest,” says Small.
Back in Abidjan’s Palais de la Culture, the fashion show is drawing to a close. As part of the finale, a male model emerges on stage, his get-up fashioned entirely from old cocoa sacks. Around his wrist is a series of frayed beige bracelets adorned with cocoa beans. He looks good in a funky, edgy kind of way. One of the girls in the crowd takes a closer look. “Even his eyes are like chocolate,” she says with a giggle. Move over, Coco Chanel, looks like cocoa sacks are the next fashion trend.
Shopping with a conscience
Stock up on locally made eco trends from West and East Africa
- Maimouna Gomet’s cocoa fashion Available from her store and workshop next to Treichville Market, Abidjan. Open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm
- Recycled paper necklaces Buy them in souvenir shops all over Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya or online at beadforlife.com
- Pippa Small’s brass jewellery collection Can be purchased on-line at made.uk.com
- Cassawa shop Opposite the UN building, Monrovia, Liberia. Open Saturdays 3pm-7pm