In 2010, Vivienne Westwood began working with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) of the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, on a small design pilot in Kenya. The first Made in Kenya collection followed in 2011.
That year, Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler travelled to Kenya with EFI to understand the craftsmanship, meet micro-producers including Satubo Women and Oldanyatti Women, and lead training with the artisans themselves.
Production ran through Artisan Fashion, which EFI established as its Kenyan operation in 2009. Artisan Fashion became an independent social enterprise in 2015 and has designed and produced the collection in direct partnership with Vivienne Westwood ever since.
For 15 years, Vivienne Westwood has produced a seasonal Made in Kenya accessories collection through its collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative and local social enterprise Artisan Fashion – an enduring partnership built around artisan-led, community-based production of accessories across Africa.
IMPACT REPORT
Across 31 seasons and special collections, the Made in Kenya partnership has offered work, training and skills development for artisan communities in Kenya, Uganda and Burkina Faso, creating opportunities for them to broaden their livelihoods. The orders account for 3,554 seasonal engagements with artisans and Artisan Fashion team members over fifteen years.
Artisan Fashion works alongside each community from before an order is confirmed through to delivery, providing technical training in the skills each order requires and guidance on health and safety. This model is itself the result of capacity building. EFI established Artisan Fashion as its Kenyan operation in 2009 and supported it to become an independent social enterprise in 2015. Every order Artisan Fashion receives is monitored under EFI's Code of Conduct.
ethicalfashioninitiative.org
THE DESIGNER MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME
To mark the 15th anniversary, EFI launched the Made in Kenya Designer Mentorship Programme in July 2026, with Vivienne Westwood, Artisan Fashion and Jiamini.
The programme is built around three complementary strands, each designed to connect Kenyan talent and craftsmanship with global opportunity, whilst nurturing creative and business development.
The Ethical Fashion Initiative leads the programme and runs its planning and delivery. It also teaches the sessions on visual communications, responsible business and governance. Vivienne Westwood leads the design and brand-building sessions. Artisan Fashion brings artisanal savoir-faire to the designers through community visits focused on specific crafts: weaving and basketry, crochet, beadwork and metalwork. Anthony Mulli, who leads Jiamini, is Faculty Lead. Anthony runs the mentoring strand and works one-on-one with each designer on creative identity and career direction.
The three established Kenyan designers, Gloria Kisilu, Jamie Kimani and Namnyak Odupoy, each design a signature bag or accessory of their own during the mentorship, informed by community visits with Artisan Fashion's artisans. A parallel advanced track brings in established artisan businesses with clear growth goals, built around Tujikuze, EFI's newest social enterprise partner in Kenya. Both the mentorship and Tujikuze are funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).
GLORIA KISILU
Gloria Kisilu is a Kenyan designer, creative director,social entrepreneur and founder of The Shaba Studio, a contemporary accessories brand redefining African luxury through craftsmanship and material innovation. Working at the intersection of fashion, climate, technology and trade, she transforms traditional Kenyan basketry and artisanal techniques into sculptural, design-led accessories for a contemporary global audience. Her creative practice is rooted in Kenya’s landscapes, coastal culture, ancestral objects and the women who have preserved craft traditions across generations. Using natural sisal, upcycled leather, handcrafted brass and locally sourced materials, Gloria explores the relationship between heritage and modernity, treating craft as a living and evolving design language. The basket holds particular significance within her work, symbolizing memory, identity, femininity and the transition from childhood into womanhood. These cultural references are expressed through bold silhouettes, unexpected proportions, rich textures and a distinctly modern interpretation of African design.
JAMIE KIMANI
Jamie Kimani is a Kenyan fashion designer and the founder and creative director of SEVARIA, a contemporary fashion practice exploring memory, identity, craft and transformation. Through SEVARIA, he develops a distinctive creative language rooted in African cultural memory while questioning how familiar traditions, materials and visual references can be reinterpreted for the present. Jamie’s design process frequently begins with questions about storytelling, emotion and self-expression. He approaches clothing as a tool for exploring identity rather than prescribing it. His work challenges rigid gender categories by disrupting conventional masculine and feminine codes through silhouette, proportion, construction and styling. For Jamie, garments should create space for curiosity, contradiction and freedom, allowing the wearer to exist beyond fixed expectations.
NAMNYAK ODUPOY
Namnyak Odupoy is a Kenyan designer, technical fashion specialist and founder of Studio Namnyak, a Nairobi-based design studio rooted in heritage, craftsmanship and community. Her practice brings together contemporary aesthetics, traditional African techniques and emerging design technologies to create thoughtful, minimalist garments for the conscious consumer. Through Studio Namnyak, she develops carefully curated capsule collections that reflect the principles of contemporary slow fashion. Each piece is intentionally designed and handcrafted in Kenya using fibres, naturally sourced materials and handloomed textiles produced by skilled artisans. Her work treats clothing not simply as a finished product, but as an expression of mindful living, cultural memory and the enduring value of handmade craftsmanship.
The programme also included a free webinar series, open to designers and artisans everywhere, running July - October and covers creative identity, sustainability and pitching to buyers.
Mulli held his first coaching session with the designers in July;
“Technical skills can be taught in many spaces, but developing an authentic creative voice requires reflection, mentorship, and honest conversations about identity, culture, and purpose. What makes this programme unique is that it challenges designers to look inward before looking outward. We are asking them not simply to design beautiful products, but to understand why they create, what stories they carry, and how their work can contribute to the global fashion conversation while remaining rooted in who they are.
The future of Kenyan fashion will not be built by replicating Paris, Milan, New York or London. It will be built by designers who confidently interpret Kenya and Africa through their own contemporary lens and create work that could not have come from anywhere else in the world.” - Anthony Mulli, Jiamini
MADE IN KENYA
Our Made in Kenya collection, designed and produced in collaboration with Artisan Fashion, continues to engage with local enterprises and artisans. For fifteen years, the partnership has provided work, training and skills development, creating opportunities for artisan communities to broaden their livelihoods.
Products carousel
Ellie Shoulder Bag
Ellie Shoulder Bag
Sally Shopper
Lennie Shoulder Bag
Sally Shopper
Studio Small Shopper
Highland Backpack
Studio Small Shopper
Studio Shopper
MADE IN KENYA ARCHIVE INSTALLATION
To mark the 15th anniversary of the Made in Kenya collection, Vivienne Westwood is taking over its windows internationally with graphics that’ve been featured within the collection throughout the years.
Alongside this, a special archival installation will travel across selected boutiques in London, regional UK locations, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles and New York showcasing iconic Made in Kenya pieces from the past 15 years. The installation celebrates the craftsmanship, techniques and artisanal skills that have defined the collaboration and continue to be preserved through the collection today.
25th October - 15th November 2026