The May 2020 Issue
As Fashion Designers Struggle to Adapt, Kas Wear is Making Protective Face Masks!
This lock down has put many fashion businesses out of work. No one is socializing. No one is attending or organizing a wedding. And the sad part is, this might be our new normal for the bigger part of the rest of the year. This has left many fashion designers clueless on what to do to move forward. While this sounds like a challenge, some brands are pivoting their businesses to cater to the new need for face masks.
As of yesterday, wearing a face mask is mandatory if you are stepping out to go to a public place here in Uganda. “We are going to make it mandatory to cover the face with a cloth mask…because the virus rides on the droplets; it cannot fly by its self. The mask may become a seedbed, of the virus,” President Museveni stated in his last public address. Non-surgical masks come in as the affordable option most Ugandan can afford albeit not being able to fully protect the wearer from the virus. They can, however, help reduce the spread of the virus by those who are asymptomatic.
One such brand that’s pivoting to meet a new demand is Kas Wear. Founded in 2009 by Ras Kasozi, a self-taught fashion designer, the brand is popular for its use of a combination of recycled, natural, organic and indigenous fabrics to create clothing that’s chic and modern. Kasozi is also known for being a big champion for the ‘Buy Uganda Build Uganda’ campaign. In this chat with us, he explains his reasons for the move.
How did this idea of Kas Wear face masks come about?
You know, many people think fashion is about just making garments. Fashion can also be an interpretation of the times we are in. What’s going on right now is the fight against Covid-19. Just like we are always there when our clients need to look good, we also should be visible in this fight against the pandemic. No one is ordering for fancy cocktail gowns, because everyone is at home self isolating. As a brand we arrived to the conclusion that it was best to pivot our business to produce masks, because that’s what everyone needs right now. We are in a crisis.
We have created reusable protective face masks. They feature an adjustable nose bridge which protects the nose. They also have a filter layer inserted within to prevent any viruses from getting into your nose, while also keeping you from passing them to other people in case you have the disease. The fabrics we use have the smallest woven patterns so that the mask doesn’t expose the wearer to the virus.
We brand them for corporate companies that might need them for their teams. Also, a part of the profit we’re making from the business is used to create masks we give out to vulnerable people in the community who need them the most, yet they can’t afford. We also have friends of the brand that come to us to collaborate on masks which are also given out to people in the community.
It took me some time to perfect the technique of making them. Most of the masks on the market are not good for our health. For example, how are non-reusable mask disposed of? Some of those masks put us at a risk of catching the virus. Re-usable masks come in as a great alternative. You use, wash with soap and re-wear. In case you have the virus, you won’t be able to pass it on. It’s not sustainable to ask a Ugandan, in this economy, to buy an expensive mask to wear for five hours and dump after. We need to come together as Ugandans to solve these problems together.
This is a new territory for the brand, did you work with your signature fabrics?
For custom-made products,we work with all kinds of fabrics. When a client walks in and asks for a custom look, we have to create something that suits them. Away from that, the brand works with linen, cotton, wool, Kente and bark cloth.
Many of these fabrics are sourced from out of Uganda. We are in lock down, no one is travelling to bring them in. How are you solving this?
That’s a huge challenge. We source lots of these fabrics from abroad because that’s what traders bring in. I know just a handful of stores that sell fabrics made in Uganda. This becomes very challenging for some of us who prefer to work with mostly fabrics from here or Africa. Most of the fabrics we use are gotten from Nytil, located on Uganda House. Whenever I’m working on a big project, I convince them to buy fabrics made from Uganda. For corporate business, I get fabric from Woodin which is located at Centenary park.
How can one access these masks?
Since we are in lock down. We deliver to where you are using quick means such as Safe Boda. Our workshop is located in Buziga. You order over Whatsapp, Facebook or Instagram, we deliver. That’s the only way. A pack of 20 masks costs 200,000 UGX
How else has this pandemic affected your business?
Prior to this, I had spent about six months in the US. My production had suffered because I play a pivotal role in the business. When I returned in February, Corona was already everywhere. I wasn’t able to work on a new collection. We have so many orders we haven’t yet done and delivered because the stores are closed currently. Interestingly, I’ve worked more during this lock down than I did during the time when things were calm. It is during challenging times when we are most creative. At first, we closed the workshop and asked everyone to go home. Then after sometime I came to a realization. What if Covid-19 doesn’t go? Shall we keep working like this? I said no.
I now leave home at 6 am to come to work. Some days we have to sleep here because work is done past 7 pm and there’s a curfew. Sometimes we just spend the whole week here and go back home over the weekend. We are trying our best to adapt.
Do you see us going back to our normal way of conducting business soon?
I don’t see this happening. Only a few businesses won’t be affected. When you listen to the President’s addresses, he never tires from asking Ugandans to support local producers and manufacturers. This is something I’ve been championing for as well. I’ve always asked colleagues in the industry to adapt early, we suffer for about three years, until we get where we want to be. They’ve always responded saying that we are still too young to depend on ourselves entirely. Now it has happened when many of us aren’t ready.
Adapting early is the only way to make this work. For us here it’s challenging; we have no transportation and all fabric markets are closed but we have been able to put products on the market. I’ve learned to use a motorcycle. We are all figuring out how to make it work.
What other lessons should we learn from this experience?
Let’s support our local products. Why should we wear clothes from China when we have land here that can grow cotton. We have bark cloth, why don’t we promote it? Bark cloth can be the unique fabric we are known for as Ugandans. We have lots of raw materials here, but we keep rejecting them in favour of imported products. Right now borders are closed and everyone is out of work. If we had our own industries, it would have been a different story.
I implore my fellow Ugandan to bury the thought that what is made here can’t be good. Yes, the standard is not yet up there. But if people come on board and support, creatives will be motivated to upgrade. My tip to everyone, after lock down, don’t rush to fly out of the country for anything. Utilize what we already have here.
To order for these Kas Wear masks, call/ whatsapp +256 755 015018 or head to their Facebook here or Instagram here. A pack of 20 masks costs 200,000 UGX
satisfashionug@gmail.com
0 comments