Article by: Jessica Solomons
At the tender age of 25, friends, Alice Heusser and Olivia Kennaway, have been awarded the title of Ethical Entrepreneur Women of 2010 by SA’s GLAMOUR magazine. The pair met during their studies at Cape Technikon and shortly after graduating joined creative forces to forge Lalesso, the fashion label now taking the world by storm.
The idea for Lalesso, a brand that prides itself on its ethical fashion philosophy, was born on a trip to Olivia’s home country, Kenya. The vibrant colours and intricate patterns of the traditional clothing inspired the two to create a line for women that was fun, frivolous and playful – perfect for summer nights and resort holidays. But, what makes Alice and Olivia GLAMOUR’s Ethical Entrepreneurs of 2010, is their vision of making fashion more socially responsible. “You don’t realize when you buy that bargain pair of jeans, that, while they may be a bargain for you, they’re more than likely not a bargain for the person who actually made them,” says Alice. “There are countless manufacturers, especially in the East, who exploit their workers, paying them barely enough to survive and making them work long hours in poor conditions.”
The fashion duo, who set up shop in Diani Beach, Kenya, in 2005, are endeavoring to change this by not only creating fashion that is ethically produced, but by also providing facilities for international fashion designers and companies to manufacture their clothing with a clear conscience. “Olivia and I realized on a trip to Europe that there is a huge demand for socially responsible manufacturing in the fashion industry and so we decided to take the gap in the market and provide the service that people wanted,” says Cape Town based Alice. “After two years of hard work and the help of the Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF), we launched SOKO (Swahili for “trade”) in January.”
SOKO is the first globally recognized ethical manufacturing company in East Africa and the number of designers and fashion houses supporting it is growing. Not only is SOKO offering the fashion industry an ethical alternative for manufacturing, but all profits go straight back into the community. “We wanted to do our bit for the East African community. Many people can’t afford to send all their children to school but the money made from SOKO is now allowing local men and women to educate everyone in their family and better support themselves,” says Alice. “We have also set up a crèche which has been hugely successful, and we donate money to the local rehab facility which is trying to help eradicate heroin addiction in East Africa, which has become a growing problem.”
Aside from the financial support they give the Kenyan community, the fashionistas pride themselves on employing local men and women in their workshops. The girls now provide work for over 22 seamstresses, paying them over three times the average wage, and have also utilized the creative skills of other locals, namely the Masai tribesmen, who handcrafted the stunning bracelets for last year’s Lalesso collection, and “the crochet sisters”, a group of nuns with a flair for embroidery.
This year, Alice and Olivia are excited about the work a group of disabled men and women from the Bombolulu Workshop, a Mombasa based organization, are doing for Lalesso’s S/S ’11 collection. “Bombolulu is dedicated to helping the physically disabled overcome their limitations by encouraging them to explore their creative talent,” says Alice. “For our latest collection we’ve asked them to make some beautiful handcrafted brass bead embellishments to show our support for what they do, and we couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”
Having successfully established itself here in SA, the Lalesso brand is now venturing abroad, with the S/S’11 collection set to hit Aussie shores later this year. When asked what’s next for the company, Alice confidently replies, “Expansion.” And with the girls’ designs already hanging in the closets of celebs like Sienna Miller and Estelle, we have no doubt that Lalesso is set to take over the fashion world!
The liveeco team
