If you were looking for an excuse to justify your latest online shop, we've found it. The brand new collection from ASOS Made In Kenya isn't simply beautiful, it's also improving lives around the world...
There’s been much written about the high street’s commitment to sustainability of late. H&M’s new Conscious Exclusive collection is set to launch in a few weeks, while Mango’s Committed range marked the label’s first move towards a more ‘ethical’ approach, proving to be a huge success with many pieces selling out within a matter of days. But there are some leading lights who remain committed to sustainability throughout the year, without the same fanfare. One such brand is ASOS.
We’ve written extensively of our love for the online behemoth; the sheer choice of products and brands on offer is borderline overwhelming, and the in-house design team never fails to create the sorts of pieces that instil hysteria in all of us. What many might not know, however, is that the label has its own Eco Edit, dedicated to pioneering sustainable fashion and beauty items.
One of the most impressive brands sitting in the Eco Edit is the in-house fair-trade clothing label, ASOS Made In Kenya, which is a partnership with African clothing workshop, SOKO Kenya. Inspired by the local African landscape and its wildlife, the Made In Kenya range is designed by ASOS’s in-house team, then cut and manufactured by SOKO Kenya, who provide fair and safe employment and training for some of Kenya’s poorest communities. Over the last six years, it’s grown from four to 50 employees.
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Business at the front, party at the back. Shirt, £35
As part of the SOKO Community Trust, established in 2014, the partnership with ASOS works to provide women and men in the Kasigau community with the practical skills and support they need in order to escape poverty. And the clothes being created couldn’t be more brilliant.
Marrying ASOS’s trend-led aesthetic with traditional African motifs and prints (including some drawings by local primary school children that were transformed into prints by the ASOS design team) there are ethereal, floor-sweeping maxi dresses with cut-out details, vibrant animal prints on culottes and frill-front sweaters and seemingly conventional denim shirts from the front, which in fact boast delicate, chiffon ruffles and tie details at the back.
There are chambray macs, knotted bow headbands and split-front midi dresses, too. The collection is dropping in two parts, the first of which is available right now. The second ASOS Made In Kenya drop will land in May.
With the most expensive pieces in the collection only £70, there couldn’t be a better way to spend your hard-earned cash right now. You’ll be scoring some incredible additions for your wardrobe and supporting an amazing initiative simultaneously. You can’t argue with that.
Shop the ASOS Made In Kenya collection here.
The post These ASOS Clothes Are Changing Lives- And You’ll Want All Of Them appeared first on Look Magazine.