Through the Ethical Fashion Programme, a community of disadvantaged women in Kibera make handbags, totes, and various accessories out of recycled material, all under the Vivienne Westwood label. It’s not an original concept, but it’s certainly a high profile one; Westwood’s eponymous brand is an Anglo fashion label to be reckoned with.

The ad itself is as quirky as anything you’ll ever see from Westwood, with its very untraditional, notably un-glossy take on high fashion. The absence of the usual polish and vigorous post-production we’re used to seeing in glossy magazines is refreshing and does justice to the location in which it was shot.

Sadly, while our Kenyan-made bags get shipped somewhere across the world, you won’t find a stitch of the collections in any shop in Kenya. You can shop the bags online.

On an unrelated note, Dame Westwood’s recent and very public tongue-lashing against the personal stylings of the Duchess of Cambridge (a.k.a. Kate Middleton) as “ordinary” and “high-street” is grossly undeserved. I think Kate is simply stunning.

Picture courtesy of shopliquorice.blogspot.com

By Annabel Onyango for DRESSUPNATION