Kunjina Tesfaye is the founder of fashion brand Kunjina and an innovative designer campaigning for sustainable fashion.
“I was passionate about fashion as a child. I developed through time, trying my mother’s clothes, sketching. My aunt saw what I had draped on a mannequin and bought me a small sewing machine. I didn’t have any technical skill at that point; I just followed my instinct.”
This continued until her fourth year in university when she had more free time and enrolled in a fashion design course. This gave her the necessary technical skills she’d lacked up to that point. The following year Kunjina joined African Mosaique’s fashion incubation program. She explains that the incubator gave her access to information she did not have before.
“Knowing the market, how brands work, what the international fashion industry is like. You get excited when you’re just learning to make clothes and want to do more of that. Before this program, I didn’t have the concept of a collection, for instance. Thinking of seasons and concepts was new to me. There was no other fashion school like this so I learned a lot. I developed a plan through that.”
The collection she produced in the program, and the winner of the 2018 African Mosaique Fashion Incubator, was based on a concept that combined her passion and formal training. She used it to illustrate her passion for fashion and architecture through structured pieces in black cotton fabric with straight lines embroidered in red.
The following year Kunjina collaborated with two brands – Black Rhino, which specializes in leather, and Bala, a notebook and postcard production house – to create Designers Collective. Designers Collective is a single shop providing the products of these three companies along with other designer items from up and coming artists.
Kunjina explains the process of reaching customers before the store was exhausting. The only place people were likely to see her products was on social media and once they ordered an item she would have to self deliver it. Having a physical store simplified the process and brought a diversity of products to a wider audience. A shared store also helped these designers share costs and responsibilities associated with owning a retail establishment. Many fashion designers open new brands but are not able to sustain a store beyond a certain point due to the constraints of managing the business and creative aspects involved.
Designers is currently located on Century Mall after a short hiatus due to the coivid-19 pandemic. The lockdown caused Kunjina to pivot towards producing facemasks and keep maintaining the shop and her 3 employees.
“I think of a concept of a collection by asking what’s the most present idea to me right now. I develop the idea, create a mood board, and color board. Then I select a fabric selection and make illustration or sketches. I think of a pattern and create one. I usually make a sample using abujedi then make a prototype after all the corrections are made. After that we move to the photoshoot and advertisement phase.”
Kunjina’s designs are often recognizable. The color scheme is often fabric in black or different shades of grey, and small simple details and embroidery in white or red. There is an angularity to the items she makes, a sculpted silhouette that’s a combination of simplicity and sophistication.
“Crafted detail is added to connect it to the concept. That’s what makes us unique. We want people who wear it to have a connection with that item. I think a lot of the structure in the items comes from my background,” she explains. Kunjina studied Construction Management for 5 years. “But even before school, when I was drawing or sketching something, my works frequently had structured lines.”
Resilience, one of her standout collection, is inspired by a story of adopting obstacles as welcome challenges and learning through the process. “Failure is an opportunity to improve. I found that in a book I was reading at the time and I related to it. If I find something dull or repetitive, if it’s not exciting me then my passion disappears. It made me realize I’m always looking for a challenge. That was my mentality. An idea that is true and close to me is revealed in that collection. Not everyone may understand it but some people will relate to it. They might find it inspirational or it might be confirming their self-image. Either way, they see themselves in it,” she explains. She uses the example of frayed ends on the fabric to explain that hardship is just part of the process of change. “Wearing these clothes gives people this feeling of strength, it creates this vibe. It’s about finding that feeling within yourself.”
The campaign photo shoot for Resilience collection was done in Semien mountains and Kunjina uses the hike up the mountain as reflective of the hardship the collection was meant to convey.
Kunjina also works with the global movement for sustainability Fashion Revolution. She campaigns for consciousness raising when purchasing fast fashion and throwing away clothing as well as raising awareness about where the clothes we wear come from and the people who made them.
“When I first started making clothes, I was just excited to make new things and enter the market. Then saw the impact and it’s made me stop and consider. Solely focusing on creativity is not always good. Fashion is a growing industry in Africa; so it’s still early and we can learn how to be more sustainable. I took this as an opportunity to research and learn. Change starts from you, from one brand, and if I’m going to be responsible, I should look at the output, the working condition of employees, look at waste. Then it will have an effect. I think we can bring collective change that way. We are aware and we don’t throw away our waste. We try to use ethically sourced materials which is hard to do. You go to Merkato and ask what percent cotton is this item but they can’t tell you. We’re trying to be as conscious as we can.”
Kunjina is currently participating in an idea competition award with The Good Business organization and hopes to use proceeds of that award to enter the international market.
“There are a lot of things left to be done. Things are a lot better than they used to be but it’s not enough. Overall thinking about fashion and knowledge has grown. Social media has made fashion more accessible. There’s more information about trends, and how to dress the way you want are out there. Stuff Ethiopians used to be shy about, current generations are bolder about trying.” she says.
“The economy, Covid, the climate of conflict we now live in are affecting us, especially because we’re regarded as luxury items. We’re trying to survive and move to the next stage.”
Understandably, people don’t want to spend extra money on something like high fashion when their lives are precarious. But an ecosystem that not only lets those in the creative sector survive but thrive is necessary if this industry is to grow. Creating a self-sustaining creative sector still requires the work of the public sector. This requires more focus from the government with regards to providing financial grants, encouraging policies and physical space for creative activities.
