Discussing Africa’s Fashion Futures with Sustainability Pioneer Nkwo Onwuka

NKWO Peace Dress from the "Places We Have Lived" collection

Led with intention and care, Nigerian label NKWO is what founder Nkwo Onwuka herself describes as a mindful brand, in a deliberate move away from current fashion’s buzzword “sustainable”. 

After five years of operating in the UK, the Abuja-based designer relaunched her brand in Nigeria in 2012, centering her work on the transformation of waste as well as lives — from the preservation of traditional crafts, to innovation and conservation of natural resources — to build a better future for us and our planet. "What is the point in creating more than we can use if it causes us to live less of a life?" Onwuka asks in her brand’s founding principle; the Philosophy of Less.

Focusing on artisan communities’ empowerment  — women especially — the designer never stops experimenting with the resources readily available in her local environment, such as secondhand clothing, to find new ways and techniques to make African heritage’s art de vivre and savoir-faire live on for generations. 

In this Q&A with the Fashion Impact Fund’s Conscious Fashion Campaign honoree and 2022 CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards finalist, we learn more about what engaging in sustainable fashion conversation means on the continent.

In the past two years, the global fashion industry has been more focused than ever on sustainability, and its meaning differs from one brand to another. What does sustainability mean at NKWO and how does it unfold?

At NKWO sustainability means being mindful of the impact of running a fashion business on the environment with a focus on textile waste reduction and how we can use this as a means of restoring the traditional value systems - including traditional craft skills - that have been corrupted by fast fashion.

You raised the game in the industry on the continent by relaunching your brand in Nigeria with a circular approach back in 2012. How have you seen the industry growing locally with regards to adopting more sustainable practices?

For the most part, many brands on the continent are sustainable by default. However, there is a whole new wave of designers that are quite intentional about their journey into this space. They understand the importance of sourcing locally, working with artisans, producing small batch collections, textile waste reduction in some form or the other, upcycling etc and while some brands are further along than others, the important thing is that the movement is growing.

NKWO looks at the V&A museum’s exhibition Africa Fashion

You are vocal in preserving craftsmanship and tapping into technology to do so. Could you elaborate on that? How would you like to see traditional textile techniques developing?

Some of our traditional craft skills are at risk of fading away because the practitioners are the last in their line of craft, often seen by their children as too time consuming or not inclusive enough (some crafts are restricted to either men or women) and for any of these handicrafts to survive, they have to live in a generation. Harnessing the capabilities of the technology that this generation has grown up on is one way to make sure the practices evolve and carry on into the future.

To this day, one major challenge that keeps coming up in the conversations about manufacturing in Africa is scalability. What are your thoughts on that? What does scalability really mean on the continent, where most designers have long embraced a slow production approach?

I don't see this as a challenge. I think it is actually an opportunity for us to control how we produce and ultimately how we consume. We have all seen images of how piles of unwanted clothes from the Global North are being dumped in developing countries. That says a lot about scalability! We need to go at our own pace and develop our industry in a way that works for us as a continent.

We hear a lot about circularity and next-gen materials in the global conversations about sustainable fashion. How can Africa engage in those conversations?

Africa has to engage in these global conversations because, if the fashion industry is truly looking for a way to achieve more circular practices, all of us have to be a part of the solution. Fast fashion has destroyed the link between clothes and culture and though Africa contributes the least, we find ourselves at the forefront of the waste crisis. We should actually be leading the charge for the industry to make a collective commitment to do right by the people and the planet.

Thinking of the future, the next generations of designers are definitely going to play their part in these conversations. As a mentor of the Lagos Fashion Week Green Access programme, how have you seen them taking up those challenges? What are your mentorship's key areas of focus?

I am so proud of how fully the mentees have embraced a more mindful approach to running their brands. So many of them have gone on to win awards and receive recognition for the great work they are doing in the sustainable fashion space.
The most important thing for me though, is the fact that I am able to lead by example. They see that working 'right' is nothing to be afraid of and it will not stop them from leading a successful and fulfilling business life!

Any last word for the industry?

Let's talk less and do more!

NKWO Dakala Strings Corset features in WHO DEY SHAKE, a short film and photographic story by @lakinogunbanwo for the V&A museum and NATAAL media