The creative crisis in the fashion industry
What you need to know:
t doesn’t take a fashion designer to understand that fashion statements intend to send a message, even though this has never mattered for the Kenyan market.
Still, the content of the messages is an increasingly important component of the state of a growing culture.
As much as it hasn’t fully grown as an industry, fashion in Kenya is shaping popular culture, driving much of the local urban narrative.
THE FASHION INDUSTRY is one of the most visible industries, yet it is one of the most overlooked cultural sectors in the country.
It’s visible in the sense that, everywhere one goes, there is a fashion statement – some angry, some extreme and some incoherent. From malls to flea markets, from roadside stalls to the internet, fashion seems to be getting increasingly prominent.
The local market now understands the power of fashion and fashion statements, and that is evident from the number charity-themed fashion events that have been held in past.
The glitz, the glamour and the flashing lights have blinded the fashion trends and fads market. Fashion statements are often both influential and philosophy-laden, so they should be taken seriously, analysed and challenged.
It doesn’t take a fashion designer to understand that fashion statements intend to send a message, even though this has never mattered for the Kenyan market.
Still, the content of the messages is an increasingly important component of the state of a growing culture.
As much as it hasn’t fully grown as an industry, fashion in Kenya is shaping popular culture, driving much of the local urban narrative.
There are many examples of how local fashion is shaping popular culture – fashion designers are getting more airtime, and the number of fashion bloggers is also increasing.
The influence of fashion is also becoming institutionalised locally. For instance.
Beyond a cute photo and caption
Sharon Mundia (ThisIsEss) is the new face of the Samsung A series. Those in the industry have more clout and enjoy celebrity status.
As its growth continues to get intertwined with popular culture, it’s becoming something that one might call an “epidemic”, - a creative crisis of sorts.
Simply put, it was fun only when we had a few of them. There is a new fashion blogger in every part of the internet doing it exactly like the next fashion blogger. And just like the current crop of fashion designers don’t think beyond ankara, bloggers can’t go beyond a cute photo and caption.
Quick question; Do fashion bloggers sell products? Or is the end game to look good for the internet? Surely there must be an angle to it.
The fashion industry’s primary purpose is to glamourise a particular look and hold it up as something to be admired, purchased, or adopted, but what’s the fashion blogger’s angle? In virtually all forms of fashion photography, there is a patina of glamour, which isn’t the case on the local internet space - the fashion blogposts are photos of trees or nature, with someone wearing clothes featuring.
Kenya has had some amazing designers in the past. They are lesser known, perhaps because their products were beyond the reach of the ordinary consumers.
What is considered attractive and stylish is no trivial matter, as it significantly reflects what we value, what we consider beautiful. Unfortunately, kitenge shoes and pants aren’t. Granted, we should support our own but that doesn’t mean buying mediocre stuff.
If you wear an item by a local designer, you’re sure to meet four other people wearing similar outfits, but by different designers.
There has been a decline in creativity in many sectors, but it is a crisis in the fashion industry, and no one is proposing ways to tackle it. While we should welcome rigorous critiques, the very fact that we continue to consume the things we are criticising makes our words ring hollow.
