Bulls n Bears Entrepreneurship Zone :: It’s in the bag: A story of upcycling, fashion and persistence

[Bulls n Bears]

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 

 

When you walk the winding alleys of Gikomba market in Nairobi, giant piles
of used clothing represent a sort of afterlife for previously-loved
garments. Here, and other markets, is where you will often find Mohamed
Awale, 29, rummaging like a man on a mission.

He is the co-owner of Kenyan indie-fashion brand Suave, which (by its own
admission) breathes new life into old. The brand markets and sells vibrant,
uniquely Kenyan bags, laptop sleeves, slim fold wallets and satchels – all
made from materials sourced from second-hand traders, factories and
tanneries. Suave uses off-cuts and unwanted morsels to create vivid and
fashionable accessories.

A self-confessed lover of bags, Awale had the idea to create his own brand
shortly after finishing university at the age of 24. His first job in the
corporate world was completely channelled into finding and paying for a
workshop space and getting the first materials for production. But, he still
didn’t know which kind of bags he wanted to make.

He remembers the day he first thought of using second-hand clothing as a
production material.

“I was still thinking of leather, but were starting to wonder if we
shouldn’t be using something else that would distinguish it from the other
bags on offer in Kenya. It came to me when I was shopping in one of the
biggest markets here in Nairobi: why hasn’t someone ever tried to make a bag
out of a used piece of clothing?” he explains.

Five years later, with stockists in Nairobi and Stockholm and the
possibility of new contacts in Europe, Awale struggles to give up the job of
sourcing fabric to anyone else in the business. He wants to be the one
finding the right pieces of material.

Suave currently employs 10 people and has a capacity to produce around 300
bags a month. The brand’s online presence embodies the spirit of Kenyan
youth, which a recent visual collaboration with independent filmmaker Joash
Omondi, depicts vividly.

Awale would readily admit that he had to learn that he didn’t need to do
everything himself. There was a time where he was involved in all areas of
the business: purchasing material, trying to keep track of orders, learning
to stitch in the workshop so he could jump in and help. But when times got
tough in terms of cash flow and delivering on orders, he realised it would
be beneficial to get a business partner and share responsibility.

Awale was also the brand’s very first model. When Suave first started
producing satchels he would simply wear the just-finished product and as
soon as friends wanted to buy it, he would sell it and another one would be
made. But the breakthrough came when he wore the very first backpack that
the workshop produced in its unique blend of repurposed material and bright
kitenge fabric.

“The first day that I was wearing it was really shocking. People were
stopping me in the streets to ask where I got it,” he remembers.

Originally the business was simply handling orders on online platforms
without being e-commerce enabled, but then started building the backbone of
their own digital store and website. Before it was ready, however, a video
portraying the story of Suave went viral and orders started streaming in.

“We had so many orders coming in – from all over the world, places like
Pakistan and Barbados for example. We just said yes when people asked if we
could ship to them, and only started finding out afterwards how we would get
the bags there,” Awale says.

They ran out of bags in a week and started taking pre-orders. “A month into
this someone working at DHL must have seen the video and set up a meeting
with us. We had to tell them we were using the local post to deliver – you
should have seen their faces.”

DHL Express offered its assistance with the international shipments,
immediately cutting down the delivery time from the previous two-week
minimum to four to five days.

“People were receiving their bags within a week. Some of them would
immediately order another bag.”

Soon Awale will be off to France to meet with possible stockists there. He
dreams big of wanting to be a global brand with an ethos of sustainable
fashion through revitalisation and repurposing, but stresses that Africa
comes first. “I want the brand to be known as an African brand with an
African presence. That is what is most important.”--Howwemadeitinafrica


<https://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/its-in-the-bag-a-story-of-upcycling-fas
hion-and-persistence/61185/mohamed-awale/> 

Mohamed Awale

 

 

Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

Telephone:    <tel:%2B263%204%202927658> +263 4 2927658

Cellphone:      <tel:%2B263%2077%20344%201674> +263 77 344 1674

Alt. Email:    <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> info at bulls.co.zw  

Website:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AF
QjCNH8LYgdY55h-XKseuM8Kpr-JKdfhQ> www.bulls.co.zw 

Blog:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bulls.co.zw%2Fblog&sa=D&sntz=1
&usg=AFQjCNFoIy6F9IXAiYnSoPSgWDYsr8Sqtw> www.bulls.co.zw/blog

Twitter:                  @bullsbears2010

LinkedIn:               Bulls n Bears Zimbabwe

Facebook:
<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBullsBearsZimba
bwe&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGhb_A5rp4biV1dGHbgiAhUxQqBXA>
www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe

Skype:         Bulls.Bears 



 

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 135658 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listmail.bulls.co.zw/pipermail/bulls/attachments/20180430/5c0d7076/attachment-0001.bin>