The Core Fashion Week hopes to unite Kenyan fashion industry

Core fashion week linda murithi

“This is just the beginning!” Linda Murithi, Chairperson of In The Bag and The Fashion Conclave, dressed in a Mela dress from Ethiopia, gestured towards the familiar faces of the Kenyan fashion industry at The Core Fashion Week’s appreciation and thank you cocktail, on Wednesday at Tribe Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Core Fashion Week is a new platform promoting Kenyan fashion design and skills development within the local industry to internationally recognized standards. The initiative, which was created from a need to consolidate disparate local fashion events across the sector in Kenya, aims to generate one coherent voice and unify all platforms under one umbrella, improving the visibility globally through coherence.

The evening celebrated new partnerships and the exciting possibilities of 2016 as Murithi and her partners hope to unite and strengthen the fashion industry in Kenya through The Core.

“Our industry in Kenya needs to work together, when one is lagging, we need to reach out and carry them until they can manage to walk on their own. We need a strong family bond to let the world know that we are a united front and we mean business!”

As they mingled among muses, tastemakers and supporters of the Kenyan fashion industry including Belinda Edmonds (Africa Cotton and Textile), Sally Karago (AFAD), Alexandre Helaine (LVMH), James Mwai and Wangechi Gitata (Fair Trade Africa), representatives from Safari Fashion Week, Nairobi Fashion Week and Tribal Chic, Tim Challen (Liquid Africa), Olive Gachara (Couture Africa), representatives from Equity Bank, and designers Katungulu Mwendwa, Niku Singh and Deepa Dosaja – envisioned positive changes in the industry.

The Core’s mandate is not simply a fashion week, but it includes supporting the fashion industry in Kenya from a holistic approach by addressing the challenges through a series of hands-on workshops delivered by industry specialists from around the world – creating an ongoing dialogue.

The strategic collaborations spearheaded by The Core will also include production direction from South African fashion ‘Renaissance Man’ Shaldon Kopman of Naked Ape and Homeboyz.

The Core Fashion Week will be having an introductory showcase in Nairobi, Friday, 29th January 2016; followed by two fashion weeks in April and November.

 

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