In July 2018, the design MIMCO team visited communities in Kenya to experience first-hand the positive social impact of our partnership with the Ethical Fashion Initiative.

Throughout the trip, our team was guided by Artisan Fashion Managing Director Robin MacAndrew, who offered invaluable insights that will help us build on our already positive impact.

Discover more about Clare and Robin—and our partnership—below or find out more about our sustainability journey.

Clare Press—Podcaster and Ethical Fashion Activist

What has been the biggest takeout from your experience in Kenya with MIMCO and EFI?

My takeaway from this experience is that this is so empowering for women. It’s an amazing set up in terms of collective work, where women get to support each other, grow their skills and make an income for themselves. That’s empowering, and for me, that aspect of this fashion story is the most intriguing. This is people welcoming us into their space. I feel like you can feel the enthusiasm and the beauty in the work, because it’s a happy place. I think you can feel that soul in the accessories.

Beading with the women is the best thing I did, because I have so much respect for these skills. This is not something you can just do in three seconds; this is something that takes a lot of time and a lot of concentration and a lot of love to be able to do beautifully.

What did you learn about MIMCO’s partnership with EFI?

One of the things that really strikes me is that every single piece that is made by Artisan Fashion for MIMCO has been touched by many hands. The partnership is about skill and craft and artisanship.

Fashion is one of those things that is overwhelmingly consumed by women and when it’s made by women in this way, it makes it even more special. I feel such a connection between the product and the women who have made it. To come here and meet them and to see them do that work is so powerful.

Clare recorded a special episode of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast while in Kenya for a two-part series on Mimco x EFI. Listen here.

Robin MacAndrew—Artisan Fashion Managing Director

How do the EFI’s hubs function?

The idea behind the Ethical Fashion Initiative is that each of the hubs that they set up all over the world will eventually reach a point of financial autonomy. Because only then can it be truly sustainable; the EFI’s mission is sustainability beyond subsidy.

The first ‘hub’ opened by the International Trade Centre in Nairobi became independent in 2015. There are now around 20 different community networks (or hubs) that Artisan Fashion work with. Each network has approx 20 individuals working for it, who could be bead workers from the Masai Mara to metal workers in the Kibera slum.

What is Artisan Fashion?

Artisan Fashion is a company based in Kenya that handcrafts accessories for some of the leading luxury fashion houses in the world. Our business model is founded around three particular things: Artisan creativity, Production Capability and Social Impact. In terms of what we do, how we do it and why we do it: We make accessories, we use local skills and materials and we do that to generate employment opportunities and economic development.

Artian Fashion work with artisans on a demand basis—this is work, not charity. If we have work, we engage them like we would any other supplier; they have become part of our supply chain. Quite often we train them with new skills; MIMCO’s Biome Drop earring being a great example of this. The artisans required a specific skill that we had to train them to do, which they then utilised to generate their own income for the local market.

What is the importance of MIMCO’s partnership with EFI and Artisan Fashion?

MIMCO is a very important client for us, there is no doubt about that. MIMCO’s designs tend to be very impactful, as they engage large numbers of artisans (mostly women) through beadwork, embroidery and crochet. There are so many skills involved that require us to engage different communities from all over the country, who come together and put their traditional skills into the making of the accessories.

What is so exciting about having MIMCO visit us in Kenya is that they are trying to understand how to design for social impact. There are certain decisions that are being made at the design stage that determine how much impact each product or collection will have when it is made. What MIMCO are looking to do is really understand how it is that they can be impactful through design.