Nairobi Fashion Week, Kenya’s premier fashion event, is set to return for its seventh edition with a bold new theme: Regenerative Fashion Renaissance: Restoring Culture and Nature. This year’s event will shine a spotlight on fashion that not only reduces harm to the planet but actively works towards restoring it. Taking place from from January 29th to 1st February 2025 at the Sarit Center, the fashion week promises to be a groundbreaking celebration of creativity, sustainability, and innovation, drawing attention to the pressing need for a more responsible and circular fashion industry.
The theme marks a critical shift in the narrative around sustainability. While traditional sustainability practices aim to reduce harm, regenerative fashion goes a step further by focusing on the restoration and renewal of ecosystems, communities, and cultures through the fashion supply chain. The theme will explore how designers, brands, and consumers can play an active role in creating a circular fashion economy that nourishes both people and the planet.
“The theme aligns with our vision of positioning Africa as a global leader in sustainability.
We are working to establish a platform for sustainable designers across Africa, rooted in the region’s cultural values. Our goal is to promote organic fabrics and sustainable fashion, and we believe this platform will help us reclaim and celebrate our story,” says Brian Kihindas, Creative director Nairobi fashion Week.
“Throughout history, African communities have embraced sustainable fashion by crafting garments from locally sourced, natural materials and utilizing traditional techniques that prioritize longevity, cultural significance, and environmental harmony,” he adds.
The Textile and Apparel industry (T&A) is the third-largest manufacturing sector globally, generating $2.4 trillion of revenue in 2019. More than 300 million people are employed across its entire value chain globally, including fiber and textile producers, designers, manufacturers, retailers and content providers. The industry has witnessed rapid growth with a doubling of production since 2000, with a current consumption of 60 percent more clothes than we did 15 years ago. If current consumption patterns persist, clothing use could rise by more than 60 per cent between 2019 and 2029.
Sadly, even with these statics that depict the relevance of the sector, the fashion industry is a major contributor to textile waste and carbon emissions with billions lost each year due to the underutilization of clothes and lack of recycling. It is estimated that the sector produces around 92 million tonnes of textile waste each year, which is equivalent to a rubbish truck full of clothes being dumped every second. In addition, the industry is also responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions, which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. When it comes to the impact of second-hand clothes or mitumbas, it is estimated that in recent years over 300 million items of damaged or unsellable clothing made of synthetic – or plastic – fibers are exported to Kenya annually where they end up dumped, land filled or burned, exacerbating the plastic pollution crisis.
With the global fashion industry accounting for significant environmental challenges, the urgency for regenerative fashion has never been more critical. Nairobi Fashion Week 2025 will feature designers who are leading this change, pushing boundaries to make recycling and upcyclingintegral parts of fashion production and consumption. The event will also provide a platform for industry leaders, environmental activists, and sustainability experts to discuss the future of recycling in fashion and the broader potential for a circular economy in the industry. By shifting towards a circular fashion model, Nairobi Fashion Week aims to change the narrative, illustrating how the fashion industry can be part of the solution rather than the problem.
“Recycling in fashion isn’t just about turning old clothes into new garments. It’s about creating a system where fashion becomes a regenerative force, where nothing goes to waste and everything has a second life. Nairobi Fashion Week 2025 will showcase the exciting possibilities that circular fashion holds for the future, not just for Africa, but for the world,” says Lisa Kibutu, Sponsor and Production Lead at NFW.
