Vivienne Westwood Marks 15 Years of Made in Kenya With Artisan Fashion

The brand traced an important early stage to a 2011 visit by Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler. Working with the International Trade Centre’s Ethical Fashion Initiative, they met micro-producers including Satubo Women, Oldanyatti Women and the Ethical Fashion Africa hub, and personally led artisan training.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative established Artisan Fashion as its Kenyan operation in 2009. It became an independent social enterprise in 2015 and has worked directly with Vivienne Westwood on the collection since then.

The label’s earlier Made in Kenya reporting also describes Artisan Fashion’s role in high-end accessories production with local community groups. That operating structure connects design requirements with an established production partner, while keeping the artisans’ work visible within the finished collection’s identity.

The business significance is the duration of the collaboration. Community-based production becomes part of the label’s accessories supply over successive seasons, rather than appearing only as a one-off project…