Kenya Kanga Collection

OUR STORY

Kenya Kanga Collection was founded by Gemma in 2005; here’s her story:
“The lightbulb moment came when I was on holiday at the coast –Kenya’s coast is amazing by the way! – and I’d been walking along the beach, wearing my own kanga and admiring the local women in their kangas. It was just like suddenly the kanga jumped out at me as the most amazing piece of artwork, but also as an incredibly versatile cotton material. I knew I wanted to do something with it – initially to package it nicely and bring it to the rest of the world, but also to start designing clothing using kangas. We started in a small shed in the garden, with one tailor who I trained up to make the kind of dresses I wanted, and today we employ 12 women at our warehouse. I’m constantly inspired by the colours of Africa which I feel are embodied in the Kanga, and I’m also constantly inspired by the women I work with – an incredible team whose hard work and dedication to creating our beautiful line of clothing, homeware and gifts is second to none. One thing I particularly love about the Kanga is that women in Kenya are still generally not heard in the public sphere but the Kanga is a very clever way of ensuring their voices are heard; the slogans on Kangas are amazing, inspiring and sometimes a little controversial!”

The Ladies of Kenya Kanga

EUNICE KALAMA
AGE: 43
CHILDREN: 3

Eunice enjoys designing new clothes and loves the fact she is surrounded by people with the same passions. She feels skills give you social advantages so it is important to use them as much as you can so you can get better and better.

Everlyn Cheptarus
AGE: 30
CHILDREN: 3, MARRIED

She has these great skills and loves putting them to use. She is so happy to have been trained to do something she loves. She says sewing is in her blood. She gets a lot of satisfaction from getting her work done at Kenya Kanga.

Jacinta Ndunge
AGE: 31
CHILDREN: 2

Jacinta started working with the Kenya Kanga team in 2014.Her desire for tailoring started long ago when she was still a kid. She often found herself hand stitching dolls and torn clothes. She is self-motivated since she does what she loves. She’s so thankful for the skill as she grows daily.

Judith Nalobile
AGE: 43
CHILDREN: 3

She wanted to get into fashion and designing, she did a design course and started designing her own things but because of problems she didn’t have the money to start a business. As she had a passion for clothes, she then started looking for a job in the field. She likes what she does now because she is creating new clothes. One day she will start her own business so it is really good experience. She likes tailoring because she can stitch anything from any material and make something beautiful.

Mary Kavindu
AGE: 33
CHILDREN: 2, MARRIED

Mary loves all things fashion! She is really enjoying learning new techniques and creating clothes that people love. If you have the passion you have to go for it.

Veronica Kiama
AGE: 39
CHILDREN: 4, SEPARATED

The circumstances changes with her previous employer so she was encouraged to apply for a job at Kenya Kanga. At Kenya Kanga she is surrounded by friend and loves the community that is built there. The work excites her.

Naomi Dama
AGE: 40
CHILDREN: 2

Naomi was inspired by her mommy who was a tailor. This drove her to do a tailoring course and started actualizing her career in 2007.Since then she has grown in her field of her specialization inspiring her own kids. She says every career is great as long as you do it from the heart. Its never easy but you going to make it someday.

Roselyn Adhiambo
AGE: 35
CHILDREN: 2, MARRIED

She tried a few things but love tailoring the best. She heard about Kenya Kanga from a friend at church and applied straight away. The work at Kenya Kanga encourages you to be self motivated and she has learnt a lot of useful skills which have helped her with her family and kids

Sofia Mwikali
AGE: 30
CHILDREN: 2, MARRIED

Kenya kanga is really peaceful escape for Sofia. She loves the friends she has made there and enjoys the level of concentration required as it relaxes her mind. She has always loved to sew- even as a child.

Susan Bulinda
AGE: 32
CHILDREN: 1, MARRIED

A friend told her about Kenya Kanga and she was eager to get a job tailoring because ever since she was a child she loved creating things. She used to knit dolls. She loves to work here because it keeps her busy and she believes if you are curious, you want to learn more skills

Tabitha Kavinya
AGE: 45
CHILDREN: 2 and 2 adopted

Loved sewing from a young age. Her friend heard about Kenya Kanga and told her to apply. She used to sew school uniforms for Primary schools. She is excited to be working but she aims high “do not be content with where you are, there is more”.