Chokora Wear is the new street haute couture

Chances are you would never buy a torn short, an old hand bag, out-of style shoes or an over-sized jeans. If anything, these are the outfits you threw out of your wardrobe to make room for new, trendy apparel.

Not so the artists from Maasai Mbili Art Centre in Kibera, Nairobi. True to the phrase one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, the artists shop for clothes no one would think of buying. They then re-invent these second-hand drabs to fashionable outfits, which they present in art exhibitions.

Visual artists Gomba Otieno and Kevo Stero together with ten models go to places Toi Market looking for second-hand clothes, but unlike the norm where models wear outfits designed by others, these models design the outfits as they wish.

One of the models Muthoni Richu, made a thick-knitted scarf from a torn, old cardigan. From an old leather bag she got shredded leather strands she wore around her head and which finally looked like a hairstyle. She created a high-low top from an over-sized blouse by patching up a torn area at its back with jeans. Muthoni says that she chose to use jeans because it is heavier and it would lower the back, therefore making the outfit a high-low.

“I go for clothes people would never think of buying. I do not choose clothes that would fit me. I do not discriminate them on size or how trendy they are. I only look for patterns, designs and colours and make clothes that would look perfect on me. How I come up with the newly-designed outfits is completely random. I can have a plan on how I will alter the outfits but after trying different things out, I can change my mind,” says Muthoni.

Her re-invented outfits she were showcased at the Goethe-Institut Auditorium last Thursday in an exhibition dubbed ‘Chokora Wear III: Ma-Looks’. The exhibition is on its third season after its successful first season in Brugenz in Austria and in Kibera and around Nairobi’s CBD, during street fashions. In these street fashions, the models re-designed their outfits and wore them in public spaces. The street fashion in Kibera and around the CBD had the models boarding public service vehicles in unique outfits.

“Members of the public were curious to know what that message was. We had people following us wherever we went and we interacted and explained to  them about the concept behind the exhibition. It is an interactive art inspired by the streets,” says Gomba.

Gomba goes on to explain that showcasing their work is crucial because it is a different audience altogether.