Dame Vivienne Westwood is a vanguard environmentalist, mobilising international attention around ecological crusades and campaigning for philanthropic charities like Amnesty International, Cool Earth, Greenpeace, the United Nations Environmental Protection Agency among others, ever since her disobedient days running amuck as THE ’70s punk icon. Deposed at the core of her labours is the conversation concerning climate change and the irreversibly altered, erratic weather patterns that persist apropos. The ecological situation is dire, dismal, doomed – we’re in the midst of a climate emergency.

But this is where Dame Viv takes up the ecological baton, not least for the fact that this is a cause that she possesses a tremendous, encyclopaedic knowledge of, but for her commendable track record of producing climate conscious clothing where circularity inherently informs her design decisions.

For Autumn-Winter 2022, Westwood holds down the fort with her Made in Kenya collection. An abundantly democratic accessories collection, Vivienne Westwood x Made in Kenya is categorically green. With a focus on material sourcing, the bags, bucket hats, key rings and charms on offer are handmade using unloved leftovers and fixed with exquisite hardware that morphs old recycled taps, padlocks, scrap car and fridge parts, brass, aluminium, bottle caps, coffee sacks, wood and glass and by-products (such as palm and cow horn) into Westwood paraphernalia. Each orb, penis pendant, parrot clip and slider eked out is handcrafted by Rangau Designers, a community team of brass artisans based in Korogocho, Nairobi, founded by Anthony and his wife Benta who have worked with Westwood since 2010.

The collection aims to cultivate more circular economies through the use of second-hand denim and an eclectic pastiche of other recycled materials, ergo putting upcycling and global textile waste on the agenda. This denim comes from dedicated Mitumba markets – bazaars of hand-me-down clothing exported into Africa as “Mitumba”, meaning bale or bundle in Kiswahili.

In East Africa, Kenya is the major importer of second-hand clothes – importing nearly 200,000 tons each year. The challenge is that much of the clothing or textile waste ends up in dump sites or burnt on open fires, along riverbeds and washed out into the sea – the consequences of which are utterly alarming. Westwood commandeers this excess stock that would otherwise serve as waste material, handcrafting it into large rolls of patchwork, screen printed with the Vivienne Westwood monogram motif.

Created in partnership with Artisan Fashion, it’s the holy grail of minimal impact ethical accessories. Artisan Fashion is the East African Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) of the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, which specialises in supporting the work of thousands of micro-producers from marginalised African communities and the production of high-end accessories with community craftspeople. Together with Westwood, they pioneer upcycling and support artisanal skill development.

Photography courtesy of Vivienne Westwood.

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