(31 Dec 2024)
KENYA BLIND FASHION
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 6.16
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nairobi, Kenya – 13 December 2024
1. Various of Angela Wamnjiku and Hisi employee working on design
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Wanjiku, founder Hisi Studio:
"Hisi Studio is an inclusive lifestyle design brand based in Thika in Kenya and we create clothing that meets the needs of visually impaired people by rethinking them and including them in our clothes and how we do this is by adding braille prints to all our pieces; braille prints that are tactile as well as braille phrases. Some of the phrases we have include, ‘The less we see with our eyes, the more we see with our hearts". These phrases are geared to champion the call for inclusion to all who wear our clothes, both sighted people and visually impaired people."
3. Various of Wamnijku and Hisi employee preparing garment for sewing
4. Various of garment being made
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Wanjiku, founder Hisi Studio:
"Our design process starts from our concept development where we collect pieces of inspiration from either culture or materials that are around us that influence what we are viewing the world as. From those we are able to now come up with the print and the braille phrases. On the braille phrases we add them to either the centres of our clothes, the sleeves and arms and the lapels."
6. Employee sewing clothes
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Wanjiku, founder Hisi Studio:
"We mainly source our materials from here in Kenya from Nairobi and in Thika. We have two types of materials that we use, some we collect from markets, thrift markets that we now upcycle and then use for collections like our latest one on kimonos. The other we buy from EPZ (Export Processing Zone) run-off material in Maziwa market along Jogoo road. We are a brand that is keen on reclaiming materials that have been thrown away and giving them a second life towards sustainable development."
8. Various of the braille phrases being added to clothes, including the word "Heart"
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Angela Wanjiku, founder Hisi Studio:
"As a pioneering adaptive clothing brand, our biggest challenge has been in our process of converting sales. We first have to educate our clients about what these dots are on their clothes. So we have also become advocates within the disability inclusion space."
10. Various of employee sorting and checking some of the finished products
11. Various of visually impaired customer Julius Mbura trying out clothes with braille messages
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Julius Mbura, customer who is visually impaired:
"The clothes that I am wearing, the t-shirt especially is from Hisi studios and I would say this is one brand that ensures that people who are blind or visually impaired appreciate textile, and fashion and clothes that represent who they are and what they are and also messaging on the clothes that we can read ourselves. It is very different. It has both tactile and braille so I can read the messaging on the t-shirt without having to depend on someone else to read what is on the t-shirt for me."
13. Mid of Julius Mbura, a visually impaired customer walking through corridor
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Julius Mbura, customer who is visually impaired:
15. Various of Julius leaving home and walking along streets outside
STORYLINE:
LEADIN:
A Kenyan clothing company is creating a new concept, a special fashion line which aims to address the needs of blind and visually impaired people.
A special sentence in braille carrying an uplifting phrase is sewn onto each garment.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/bc87dea9cccb48638bd8869e24378b31
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in January 5, 2025, 3:04 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
