KAHINDO
NEW YORK
Interviewed & written by Devyn Beswick

Kahindo reminds us that sustainable fashion must take into account the human costs as well. By paying artisans in Congo a fair wage, Kahindo wants to empower both the woman wearing the clothing and the woman who makes it. With her bright prints and fine tailoring, Kahindo invites the wearer to embody the joy that bold, confident colors symbolize. In this article we learn more about the story behind the fashion designer’s brand and the concrete steps she’s taken to empower women worldwide, while overcoming the challenges of being a Black woman in fashion entrepreneurship.

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So tell me how you started. What inspired you to start this business? KAHINDO: I started my brand in 2009; I wanted a brand that reflected my Congolese heritage and African upbringing, but in a modern way. Also, I am a curvy woman, and a lot of clothes are made for not-curvy women. I wanted to make sure that I was inclusive and had a brand that a curvy woman could wear, and that was tailored to her properly.

That leads to my question about inclusivity. How is your brand inclusive and what are your intentions behind that? KAHINDO: I’m Congolese, I’m from Africa, born and raised; and I initially thought that would be my market. But more and more, different types of women started loving the colors, the prints and the style — because my style is timeless and classic with an edge. People have bought pieces from me 10 years ago and they still wear them today. Diverse women love the style, and they don’t even know the backstory behind it — they just see something beautiful and colorful, and that’s what attracts them to my brand.

It became for every type of woman. That’s my target market: the global modern woman who loves colors and prints — with more and more inclusive sizing. Currently, we go up to XXL and size 14 (US), but I want to go up to size 22, because every woman deserves to feel and look beautiful. I use a lot of color, and immediately color just makes you feel better. That’s the ethos of my brand: to empower women and make them look and feel beautiful.

Let’s talk about the story of your business — your mission and values. KAHINDO: I handle a socially responsible womenswear brand that creates wearable art with a social impact. Our mission is to create sustainable jobs, pay fair living wages, and close the gender gap, which are also three of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. So we are aligned with the U.N., in order to create opportunities for marginalized women in Congo and in Sub-Saharan Africa. There’s a history of the U.S. giving loans to African countries for decades, but that doesn’t really trickle down to the individual person.

Creating jobs for women is really crucial. It helps them out of poverty because they’re able to support themselves and their children. It’s known that if you empower a woman, you can empower a whole society. So that’s what we want to do. Women are at the core of our mission and our brand. We’re not only empowering the woman who wears it, but also the woman who’s making it — because she feels pride making a garment and is paid a fair living wage. We started small: we work with a group of 40 artisans — mostly women, but some men. We want to build a legacy brand where 20 years from now, you’ll see the social impact: how many women were able to go to school and how many women were able to send their children to school. It’s about generational wealth: a generational impact that you’ll be able to see.

Who are you doing this for? KAHINDO: I really do it for the women back home, because I could have easily been them. Congo has gone through so many trials and tribulations: from natural disasters, to war and genocide. So I feel lucky and privileged. My father was able to empower us through education and because of that, I was able to move to the states for college when I was 17. Many women don’t have the same opportunities. I’ve been so blessed; I want to pay it forward and do the same — as much as I can — for women back home.

Absolutely. Who inspires you to keep going? KAHINDO: My parents. My mother was a fashionista in her own right. She wore these beautiful African prints. But it was the ‘60s and ‘70s, so it was that style. Then on the other end, my father who also had his own style; but like I mentioned, he was ahead of his time in many ways. He was a feminist. Congo is a very patriarchal society, but he always insisted that my sister and I had the same opportunities as my brothers. He believed that education can really empower you and it got him out of poverty. So that’s really my inspiration, because I saw what education did for him and me and I can pull from that. That’s what I want to give to women back home.

Entrepreneurship comes with a lot of challenges. I’d love to hear about what it was like creating and sustaining a business in the U.S. — especially as a Black woman. KAHINDO: It’s been difficult. Recently, one brand that I really looked up to, Carly Cushnie (of Cushnie et Ochs), had to close their business. I think she’s of Jamaican heritage, and she’s been around for 10, 15 years. One of the reasons for closing was because even at her level — she was in all of the luxury department stores — she didn’t get the same opportunities as her male counterparts. I’ve been doing this for 11 years and I’ve been passed over for so many opportunities. And I’m sure that’s because I’m Black, an immigrant, and a woman. It’s unfortunate, but it also kind of drives me: I have a product that women love, and it just makes me work harder.
Being an immigrant coming to the States, you have to work like . Every step of the way is difficult, starting when I couldn’t get a job because I was on a certain type of student visa. But I used that to motivate myself. I am always trying to break down doors, and nothing comes easy. For example, when I appeared on Project Runway, it took me three tries and the third time was a charm. I feel like with everything I’ve ever achieved, I’ve had to try three times for it. When I was accepted into the Chicago Fashion Incubator at Macy’s: I tried the first time, the second time, and I was denied — it was the third time that they accepted me.

Even recently, with all of the loans and grant opportunities for not only fashion businesses, but also women of color — I feel like I applied to over 50 and didn’t get any. So you wonder, “who’s getting these loans?” Then you see the same people getting all of these opportunities. People think, “Oh, I guess they’re only five Black-owned brands.” No, you have to do your research and find us. The fashion industry is notorious for not really supporting people of color — women of color, especially. We’ve seen that in the Fashion Week statistics: there’s only three or four different female-owned, Black-owned brands. Hopefully, things are changing. I think the Black Lives Matter movement may have helped people realize that systemic racism is throughout different industries — including the fashion industry.

What would you say is the most rewarding part of entrepreneurship? What balances out the challenges? KAHINDO: Several things. In 2015 or 2017, when I wanted to rebrand to have a social impact and ethical production — creating sustainable jobs and paying fair living wages — that really changed my brand. Now it’s closely aligned to this mission that I’m so passionate about. It’s changing lives and has a social impact. So that’s what drives me. And then on the other end, before COVID-19, it was seeing women try on my clothes and how they would light up. A woman who bought one of my jumpsuits for her wedding wrote a review about how it made her feel beautiful on such a special day. So that keeps me going and motivates me.

You mentioned COVID-19: has that shifted things or changed your direction? KAHINDO: COVID- on a lot of businesses, especially small and Black-owned businesses that have been closing at disproportionately high rates. I’m blessed in a way because when it first started, I quickly pivoted and started making masks. I had masks made in Congo by the women; it was good to give them some work because everything shut down. Then the other great blessing was my partnership with Rent the Runway. When things started opening back up, women started renting some of my pieces! So that has been great, and I’ve really taken the time to hone my brand and showcase that on social media. I have been doing a lot of podcasts telling the story of my brand — which has helped for sure. Things have slowed, but that’s given me room, and space to be as authentic as possible.

How is your business impacted by climate change and other environmental concerns? KAHINDO: Working with the artisans, I have really had to think about that, because I want to implement strategies that consider the environment. It’s made me think about where I’m going to continue sourcing my fabrics. Currently, my carbon footprint is not as good as I would like. I want the supply chain mostly in Africa, so I can lower my carbon footprint. For this year’s collection, I’m looking to source artisanal fabrics from West Africa. I did that for my 2020 spring collection: fabric was hand-dyed in Kenya by refugee artisans. I want to do that more and I’m using vegan leather in my next collection. As a small brand, I always produce less than 100 pieces per style to avoid waste. So it’s also about not creating so much just to consume and then create more waste. For sustainability, I focus more on the people side of it: fair trade and making sure they’re working in good conditions. Sometimes people forget that this is also part of being a sustainable brand.

How do you maintain an ethical business and labor process with the women that work with you? KAHINDO: That’s a great question. I started working with the artisan group last year. I found them because they also produce collections for another brand that’s very ethically aligned. So, for me, it’s also talking to other brands that are working with these artisans — making sure that what the company is saying is what is really happening. And because I’m Congolese, I’m one of them. I can hear from them directly about the impact the work is having and what else they truly need to feel empowered, so I can try my best to address those issues.

https://kahindo.com/

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