Pilot research project on Sustainable Fashion & Textiles in Africa: The Maker-Manufacturing nexus as development pathway
In January-April 2025 Lauren England (King’s College London) led a pilot research project on sustainable fashion and textile manufacturing in Kenya and South Africa. She worked in partnership with Dr Ogake Mosomi (University of Nairobi) and Prof. Jen Snowball (Rhodes University) and collaborating with Prof. Eka Ikpe (King’s College London).
The project aimed to develop initial insights into the ‘maker-manufacturing nexus’ in the fashion and textiles industry in Kenya and South Africa – connections between small-scale makers (local creative producers and fashion designers) and large scale (industrial textiles and garment producers) manufacturers. A focus was on exploring the potential for innovations in sustainable manufacturing and identifying enabling and hindering factors to greater collaboration between creative economy actors and local manufacturing infrastructure. The pilot project aims to support the development of a larger research collaboration addressing the needs of creative businesses, industry and policy and supporting sustainable development in the fashion and textile industry.
The report from the pilot project is available to read here.