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!”