Our textile industry full of untapped potential

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (R) looks at reels of thread during a visit to Camira, a textile factory in Colne Valley, Yorkshire on April 9, 2015. The absence of a vibrant textile industry is crippling Kenyan fashion. If clothes be the music fabric make notes and keys. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • Mombasa Apparels EPZ company is set to open a factory in Mtwapa. China sunk Sh44 billion in a 50,000 acre cotton firm in Naivasha which is expected. India invested Sh7.76 billion in Rivatex, which was bought out by Moi University.

It is presumed fashion is one of the most fabulous industries. In contrast, the textile design is the most unglamourous. Oddly, textiles are potentially the most rewarding.

Nigerians built their fashion industry around textile and fabrics. In South Africa, there is a time the textile industry even out-earned the fashion industry. Then we have Kenya. Fabric is the bane of our fashion’s existence. The absence of a vibrant textile industry is crippling Kenyan fashion. If clothes be the music fabric make notes and keys.  

For the second time the P&G Future Fabrics Conference 2015, Barcelona, underscored that. Attended by media from all over the world, textile mills, fabric and fashion designers, it acknowledged trends in textiles are happening so fast the fashion industry, consumers, textile mills and clothing care experts need a few moments of deliberation. It is exasperating that Kenya sits on the tail end of this train.

If we had to quantify, and yes I am about to hit you with numbers, you see a textile industry but not a fashion industry. The government has invested heavily in textiles. Opportunities will explode in the next five to 10 years. This year, they sponsored Origin Africa, a textile conference focusing on cotton, in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is attractive to investors because it has better production and less corruption.

Mombasa Apparels EPZ company is set to open a factory in Mtwapa. China sunk Sh44 billion in a 50,000 acre cotton firm in Naivasha which is expected. India invested Sh7.76 billion in Rivatex, which was bought out by Moi University.

CUTTING EDGE

A 2015 McKinsey report said Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have the potential to generate Sh300 billion between now and 2025, but only if the big apparel companies set up shop here.

H&M are ahead of the pack. Africa is replacing Asia as Europe’s manufacturer of choice. This means jobs are being created. More significantly, why are we not getting in front of this with big ideas?

Asia and India present an opportunity for training, cultural exchange, refinement of systems, labour and policies that protect us. In fact the textile design student is almost guaranteed a career upon graduation as opposed to the creative fashion rebels.

It starts with what British fashion designer Giles Deacon describes as “cutting edge innovative fabrics.” Creating his third annual limited edition collection for P&G Future Fabrics, he said “When we started this process three years ago, there weren’t a lot of mills making interesting washable fabric. It’s why designers were not using their fabric.

The mills we started with are now doing very exciting things. We work directly with fabric mills and my in house design team as I would my own collections so I can get the same look and feel.”

Giles is legendary for fabric blends seen on red carpets in the UK and US. Fabric blends are causing dramatic shifts in fashion. Pure luxury fabrics like cotton, silk, cashmere and wool were expensive and valued. Synthetics like nylon, polyester and rayon changed the game.

Now luxury and synthetic blends are becoming common, altering texture, dyeing processes, manufacturing, cost, look and feel. These new fabrics are altering consumer behaviour which is translated in designs. A fact Scotsman Jonathan Saunders, a fashion designer, knows this too well.

His clients include Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron.

“Textile is really close to my heart. Evolution affects designs. Right now consumers want individuality. There is conversation now around fashion cycles taking six months. It is very upside down. We need to be in the same time zone because bespoke fabric is crucial to what we do as designers,” Giles, who known for his screen printing and bold colours, told the conference.

“Fashion is not only about changing every season. As a designer, what is your point of view, what makes you different and makes the medium of fabric different that allows you to express yourself and allows the customer to express what is different about them. With so many interesting fabrics we have to think about how fabric feels, not just how it looks. It may be gorgeous and tell a story but how does it make her feel? Is she comfortable? You have to consider both,” Jonathan said.

DIFFICULT PROCESS

“You have to talk to people with expertise. We even discuss how to launder the fabric.”

How much do textile mills affect the growth of the fashion industry and how do partnerships with creatives work?

Early this week Jonathan  closed his label citing ‘personal reasons.’ Regardless, his words carry. “In my first job my mentor told me the most humbling thing; that we are in the service industry. We have to listen to what the consumer wants.” 

Giles says “As a designer you can come up with ideas very quickly. For a mill to develop and change its entire sourcing structure, fibres, the way it produces and cloth, is very time consuming and quite a difficult process. You can’t just go in today and ask for something new. It takes a lot of development.”

“There is equipment to purchased. They also have to weigh the risk. They have to make sure it is something valuable for them to do. It can make them cautious. The nature of our work has informed them on the journey to make innovative fabrics.”

With P&G’s research indicating people spend five per cent of their income on clothing, he says “Designers need to check what the world is like, what people are looking for in their lifestyles and learn from that.”

The future of the Kenyan fashion and textile industry lies in the intersection of textile design and technology.