Very fulfilling experience it was and I do not regret going there. I learned a lot, especially regarding the technical aspect of fashion. I interned at a place called Kanga Kulture for 3months. It's a growing fashion house, which has been in the fashion scene since mid last year to date. They do make made to measure outfits in African fabrics; the kanga, and kitenge. They make pieces that are wearable in our day to day lives.
The first thing I took home with me was that there is more to fashion than just drawing an idea on a piece of paper. A design should not only look good on 2D, but should also make practical and functional sense in reality.
Another point I took home, Kenyan fashion, is still very conservative. A lot of people are not really bold at taking risks, esp. when it comes to what they wear. I began to question whether Kenyans are really ready for creativity, and whether they are willing to pay for it. The bad news: the creativity idea hasn’t relly caught on. The good news: It is slowly working its way up, and so there is hope for the industry.
Being, the thrill seeker I am, of course I had a number of moments where I would get drop dead bored because there were no clients to work with, but I think the lessons learnt beat the number of times boredom crept up its head.
LESSON: take every opportunity you get to learn, no matter how small it may seem. It doesn’t have to be in the creative industry, but even for professionals. Life is an infinity book, and success presents itself as opportunity; opportunity comes to the prepared; prepare yourself by learning something new every chance you get.‘Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.’ Henry Ford
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Grateful to Kanga Kulture staff ESP. my supervisor, Lorna Abwonji for her support and for allowing me to take the lovely photos. :)
For more on Kanga Kulture, visit http://www.kangakulture.com/ or check out their facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/KangaKulture/109164832496860
