Lessons in sustainability: The Nigerian way
When Rukky Ladoja founded Grey Projects in the bustling Nigerian city of Lagos over 15 years ago, an initial goal was to create a line of ready-to-wear fashion for the African market. She envisaged a big-scale retail brand sold in stores across the continent.
However, the scale of production required to achieve her vision was unrealistic, she quickly concluded. The entrepreneur found that the business model would need heavy imports of fabrics and materials. “I realised that I needed to create a brand which would allow me to take advantage of the resources, skill and capabilities that were actually around me, rather than trying to import materials that were unfamiliar within my environment,” she says.
That’s the kind of learning that may have wider relevance as the global fashion industry searches for new business models that respond to the pressing need for more sustainable ways of working. A small-is-beautiful philosophy, nourished by a new generation of African brands and their founders, may suggest new directions for the fashion industry.
Small-batch, artisanal mindsets
Ladoja’s rethink resulted in the launch of Dye Lab, a small-batch craft brand “exploring dyeing techniques to create products that offer a practical, yet artisanal sensibility”, as she puts it. Key pieces from the brand are priced between $130 to $200, including a kimono in vibrantly colourful patterns, as well as an agbada, a type of loose-fitting robe worn in many parts of West Africa. Both garments feature batik, a wax-resist dyeing technique, favoured in Nigeria, particularly by Yoruba artisans.
This kind of textile dyeing has been criticised for its water consumption and potential to pollute. Dye Lab has responded by prioritising responsible practices throughout production. Each stock of batik wax is used repeatedly, for example — used wax is returned to the original stock and reused during the next dyeing batch rather than being discarded.
“I’ve also perfected the science of the numbers around how we make our garments,” explains Ladoja. “If I order a specific amount of fabric, we make an exact number of garments without any waste. We employ minimal cutting in all of our production to ensure that nothing is wasted. If there is any waste, it’s used to make other items.”
It’s a long way from the mainstream international fashion industry, which accounts for an estimated over 92 tones of textile waste annually. Much of that ends up in landfills — a number of dumpsites across Africa are dominated by huge volumes of unwanted fast fashion from the West.
“Sustainability is represented in various forms these days, such as producing in smaller quantities,” says Ozinna Anumudu, a fashion entrepreneur and strategy expert. “Most Nigerian brands are not producing on a mass level, and they tend to produce limited collections or made-to-order fashion. This is partly as a result of inadequate capital or funding, but it’s also intentional in the sense that brands are aware of their environment and the direction the industry is trying to go in terms of being sustainable.”
Some Nigerian fashion brands are drawing on their heritage, incorporating age-old practices into their small-batch production processes. This Is Us is a brand that launched in 2016 in homage to Nigeria’s indigenous cultures, supporting sustainable practices including handmade crafts and the reuse or repurposing of materials. “In trying to go back to define who we were and how we create, we found a beautiful reference point and model to emulate what we felt had a place in the future of design,” says Oroma Cookey-Gam, designer and co-founder. The brand’s mainline collection is, she says, a “timeless and seasonless collection designed to encourage re-wear, and feature the use of patchwork as a way to minimise waste”. Items range from $70 T-shirts and $130 lounge sets, to a $315 suit, made from natural cotton and dyed in the ancient dye pits of Kano, Nigeria.
