KEZA Luxury Fashion | Elevating the Image & Expectations of Developing Nations
“It is the nature of man to rise to greatness, when greatness is expected of him” [John Steinbeck] Imagine what might happen if we expected greatness from Africa, Guatemala or Nepal? What might happen in the psyche of the people living there? What might happen in the psyche of the market that would purchase their goods?
We aspire to incite a paradigm shift in how the West views continents like Africa. The pervasive perception is that she is a charity case, worthy only of our handouts and benevolence. It is time to view her as an asset, bursting with talent, creativity and culture.
The developing world needs a new brand.
KEZA, meaning “beautiful” in Kinyarwanda, exists to generate a positive image and foster elevated expectations of the developing world.
About You
About You
First Name
Jared
Last Name
Angaza
http://twitter.com/#!/jaredangaza
Facebook Profile
About Your Organization
Organization Name
KEZA
Organization Website
Organization Phone
+254.703.731.795
Organization Address
P.O. Box 681381 Franklin, TN United States of America 37068-1381
Organization Country
United States, TN, Williamson County
Country where this project is creating social impact
Kenya, CO
Is your organization a
For‐profit
How long has your organization been operating?
1‐5 years
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Innovation
Entry Form title
KEZA Luxury Fashion | Elevating the Image & Expectations of Developing Nations
What change do you want to bring to the world?
“It is the nature of man to rise to greatness, when greatness is expected of him” [John Steinbeck] Imagine what might happen if we expected greatness from Africa, Guatemala or Nepal? What might happen in the psyche of the people living there? What might happen in the psyche of the market that would purchase their goods?
We aspire to incite a paradigm shift in how the West views continents like Africa. The pervasive perception is that she is a charity case, worthy only of our handouts and benevolence. It is time to view her as an asset, bursting with talent, creativity and culture.
The developing world needs a new brand.
KEZA, meaning “beautiful” in Kinyarwanda, exists to generate a positive image and foster elevated expectations of the developing world.
What are the primary activities of your project?
KEZA creates exclusive handmade accessories. We work closely with industry professionals, international designers and world-class design schools to ensure the highest level of design and craftsmanship in each of our products.
KEZA recruits designers from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and other universities. Students spend a minimum of three months working directly with indigenous artisans in the artisan’s country.
Designers rotate in and out of each Artisan’s business two or three times per year to design new collections, ensuring that the designs are consistently relevant to the ever-evolving international market.
We distribute samples of each product to our sales reps in the US, where they are shown to specialty boutiques to solicit orders. KEZA brokers the deal and facilitates the orders that come through, ensuring the integrity of the deal and quality of the goods.
Samples of KEZA products go to targeted celebrities and stylists, in order to get the products onto the red carpet scene, obtain solicit celebrity endorsement and get featured in fashion articles. This represents a large portion of our efforts.
We also conduct high-level fashion shows, trunk shows and other events to bolster the positive image of the countries we work in.
What is innovative about your initiative? How is it a new contribution to the field?
KEZA is a for-profit luxury fashion label, originally created in Rwanda. For-profit because it fuels the dignity and self worth of the artisans, and because our profitability inspires other industries to produce in the developing world. Luxury fashion because African Artisans are fully capable of creating it. Africa is a land full of talent, creativity and culture. These elements deserve a better outlet than the typical cheap trinkets found in flea markets or missions fairs.
We tapped into luxury fashion because it’s a $298 Billion per year industry in America alone, accompanied by a tremendous amount of media attention. This provides an opportunity to generate lucrative fashion careers and ample positive press.
KEZA has set out to re-brand the developing world. When our products adorn celebrities on the red carpet, in movies or in Vogue articles, it changes the way people view continents like Africa. Investors begin to see opportunity instead of a need for charity. Tourists see intriguing destinations instead of desolate slums.
When we treat the developing world as an asset and partner, rather than a charity case, people are empowered to rise up on their own. Our mission is to prove that this can be done. Not just through words, but by creating a profitable example with endless press appeal.
Expecting greatness from developing nations provides a breeding ground for prosperity and dignity. We have set out to elevate the developing world’s image by providing a window into its boundless talent, excellence and beauty.
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
Tell us about the community that you engage? eg. economic conditions, political structures, norms and values, demographic trends, history, and experience with engagement efforts.
Currently we operate in East Africa, engaging skilled and innovative artisans producing fashion goods. There are thousands of artisans that dream of getting their products into the international fashion market, but often they do not have proper training, connections to vendors or systems for efficient high quality operations.
The income generated from their trade provides sustenance for their families. The positive press makes them inspirational leaders in their community. Their success represents hope for their peers. Their growth provides more jobs within their communities. Their government supports their efforts because they are the subject of positive press, as opposed to the usual spotlight on disease, corruption and poverty.
These artisans come from poverty stricken areas. Their communities support them because they long for their culture to be showcased in a way that portrays their beauty, rather than their shortcomings.
We’ve spent five years living in East Africa, constantly listening to the people we have come to serve. Throughout this time, the most pervasive desire we’ve experienced from the people is that they do not want to be viewed or treated as aid recipients. They want to be known as successful entrepreneurs and loving parents. KEZA was designed to foster this desire and provide opportunities.
Share the story of the founder and what inspired the founder to start this project
Jared Angaza fell in love with Africa at age 7 while watching “We are the World” on MTV. He saw Africa as a world of people that were not separate from him, but the same. He didn’t understand why they suffered so much when others around him (in the US) thrived in comparison. Empowering Africa became his passion.
He spent many years volunteering for DATA, ONE, Keep A Child Alive and Save Darfur Coalition, lobbying and petitioning for clean water, income generation and gender equality.
In 2005, Tom Ritchey, the creator of the first Mountain Bike, asked Jared to build Project Rwanda, an NGO that uses the bicycle as a development and rebranding tool. Jared moved to Rwanda in March 2006 and has lived in East Africa since.
He met a group of women desperately trying to find a means of survival outside of prostitution. He founded an NGO, and over the following 2 years provided for their basic needs and while learning how to best serve them.
He quickly realized that these women wanted to move beyond their pasts and be recognized as successful mothers and businesswomen. He then founded a business that would tell a story of beauty and excellence. This is how KEZA, which means “beautiful”, was born.
In 2008, Ilea Dorsey joined him in Rwanda to serve as the Country Director. Together they developed KEZA into a luxury fashion label with the purpose of transforming the image and expectations of the developing world.
Jared and Ilea married on May 8th, 2010 and now live in Mombasa, Kenya where they operate KEZA and Angaza philanthropy consulting agency.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
Please describe how your project has been successful and how that success is measured
Since 2006, KEZA has directly impacted the lives of the 37 women and 116 children we started this mission with. Their income afforded them food and shelter and put their children through school. Most importantly, they learned that they are capable and worthy of achieving their dreams. They now run their own cooperative, independent of KEZA, which provides jewellery to high end gift shops and trade fairs in Rwanda.
In 2008 we released our first product, generating over $150,000 in sales in the first 6 months. In 2009, we conducted two sell out shows on QVC, garnering much national attention. Later that year we released our first runway and ready to wear collections, designed by students from RISD, which exceeded our expectations in both sales and media attention. We had two successful fashion shows that fall, which landed KEZA in magazines and in the news for the next 18 months. Our 2009 runway collection continues to adorn photo shoots and runways.
The Rwandan community has benefited greatly from the positive press KEZA has received. Our fashion shows in the US have begun to provide Americans with a new perspective and heightened expectations of the developing world.
We measure our success by the level in which we are able to transform our clientele’s perspective and beliefs about the developing world. Through the proliferation of our brand and collaborative events focused on beauty and excellence, we are fostering large pockets of affluent and influential people worldwide that are experiencing a whole new story of the developing world.
How many people have been impacted by your project?
101-1,000
How many people could be impacted by your project in the next three years?
More than 10,000
How will your project evolve over the next three years?
Over the next 3 years KEZA will continue to incubate budding artists and promote their products worldwide. We aspire to be a successful example of ethical and eco-friendly fashion, inspiring other fashion houses to see developing nations as a source of talent and location for production. KEZA will remain agile, constantly evolving and adapting to the needs and desires of the artisans we represent.
KEZA will release 2 more collections, for a total of 4, to which new pieces will be added each year. Our sales teams will expand our distribution outlets across high end boutiques in the US, Europe, South America and Asia. We will continue to propagate KEZA products and ethos into the celebrity scene and look for new opportunities to contribute to the rebranding of the developing world.
Sustainability
What barriers might hinder the success of your project and how do you plan to overcome them?
Our two largest obstacles are 1) The preconceptions our market has about the quality and uniqueness of goods from developing countries, and 2) Access to the investment capital we need in order to compete in the luxury fashion market we aspire to influence and operate within.
Convincing our target market of the potential for luxury fashion goods from Africa is difficult. However, there is a growing understanding of this potential already in motion and we are being welcomed into key circles of influence through relationships with design schools and fashion icons. We are encouraged that such influential institutions and people want to contribute to this powerful paradigm shift in the fashion industry.
During our test marketing stage, we proved that there is an abundant market for our products, and illustrated the impact our model of ethical business has on the artisans we represent. We’ve refined our business to be agile, with low overhead and high profit potential. We are continuing to grow organically, but we need capital to take KEZA to the next stage of growth and keep our target audience’s attention. Regardless of funding, KEZA is not just a business; it’s a movement with the power to create a paradigm shift in how the developing world is viewed.
We will continue nurturing relationships, expanding our artisan network, growing sales territories, fostering PR and orchestrating innovative and collaborative fashion events in hopes of encouraging investment and convincing our market of the developing world’s potential.
Tell us about your partnerships
Karen Giberson is President of the Accessories Council, the nation’s largest proponent of luxury fashion accessories (Prada, Gucci, Fendi, etc). As a key member of the KEZA Fashion Panel, Karen provides us with invaluable industry connections and includes us in the annual ACE Awards. At the 2010 ACE Awards we provided products for VIP gift bags and met influential icons such as Donald Trump, Kanye West, Lauren Bush, and Patrick Robinson (GAP).
Our dynamic internship program includes universities and individuals from all over the US. Interns join us annually to participate in business development, design, media production and artisan development. We have a working relationship with Rhode Island School of Design where students join us abroad to train artisans and assist in the creation of new collections.
In 2009, KEZA sold over $50,000 worth of product in two four-minute segments on QVC, which attracts more than 6 million unique visitors each month, and is highly esteemed in the accessories world. We continue to foster that relationship, and are currently in talks with ShopNBC as well.
In Spring 2011 we signed an agreement with Rightshore Solutions for distribution in 9 Latin American countries and are now designing for their luxury duty free vendors.
We are currently developing ReBRAND, which is an alliance of ethical luxury fashion houses, all producing in developing nations. We will congregate annually for upscale events designed to “re-brand” the developing world.
We understand the importance of collaborations and are always looking for opportunities to do so.
Current annual budget of project, in US dollars
$100,000‐250,000
Explain your selections
KEZA is a for-profit ethical fashion label. Our income is generated from product sales and events. We are currently seeking investment funds in exchange for a considerable Return On Investment, but we do not solicit loans or donation of any kind.
We have not applied for or received any grants. We have not received any donations since converting from a non-profit 501c3 to a for-profit social venture in 2008. When we were a 501c3, we generated the majority of our own income, only receiving small periodic donations, primarily from friends and family.
KEZA was designed to be self-sustainable from the beginning. The nature of our mission depends largely on our ability to not only generate our own income, but to be profitable.
This aspect affords us the ability to govern our decisions according to the needs of the people we serve, rather than the desires of donors and government entities. It also sets a positive example of profitable business in the developing world.
How do you plan to strengthen your project in the next three years?
As we are a fashion label, most of our growth is centered around design/production and marketing. In 2011, we are developing four eclectic and robust collections made from such materials as camel bone, recycled paper and plastic, cow horn, ostrich leather, brass and various feathers. During the following three years we will continue to push the boundaries of design, partnering with budding new designers and experienced designers alike. Our biggest goal in this regard is to orchestrate a partnership with the likes of a Diane Von Furstenberg (as an example) to create a collection for KEZA, i.e. “KEZA By DVF”.
o Increase brand awareness
o Secure high profile, national press
o Create a loyal celebrity and key tastemaker following
o Establish ongoing relationships with celebrity stylists
o Support online sales and regional / national retail distribution
o Drive more online traffic and to the KEZA website
o Establish KEZA competitively among its peers as the leading brand in artisan designed and inspired
accessories within the high-end market
o Support, manage and create event opportunities for KEZA
o Collaborate with other ethical labels and launch ReBRAND and the ReBRAND Popup Shop
o Develop artisan training workshops across East Africa
o Launch a ReBRAND fashion show in Nairobi as part of Nairobi Fashion Week
o Create a network for artist development and training in East Africa
o Establish distribution through Barney’s New York, Neiman Marcus and Fred Segal
Our focus over the next 3 years is to establish ourselves in the luxury fashion industry.
Challenges
Which barriers to employment does your innovation address?
Please select up to three in order of relevancy to your project.
PRIMARY
Lack of visibility and investment
SECONDARY
Restricted access to new markets
TERTIARY
Underemployment
Please describe how your innovation specifically tackles the barriers listed above.
KEZA provides lucrative careers in areas where unemployment is prevalent. We provide artists with distribution channels, a luxury fashion brand and high-level marketing. We recruit top designers from around the world to share their expertise and experience with the artisans, constantly tuning their skills and expanding their design pallet.
Our focus on positive press and an elevated image showcases the beauty and excellence of nations that are largely only known for corruption, poverty and disease. This allows investors to see the full scope of their story, bolstering more desire to invest in these areas.
The heightened image also promotes more tourism, allowing people from around the world the opportunity to see first hand the beauty of Africa.
Are you trying to scale your organization or initiative?
If yes, please check up to three potential pathways in order of relevancy to you.
PRIMARY
Grown geographic reach: Global
SECONDARY
Influenced other organizations and institutions through the spread of best practices
TERTIARY
Enhanced existing impact through addition of complementary services
Please describe which of your growth activities are current or planned for the immediate future.
We are constantly contributing to a movement towards ethical fashion productions. As we grow, we hope to influence and inspire more fashion companies to do produce 1) ethically 2) eco-friendly 3) in developing nations. This is the greatest result that could come from our efforts of rebranding, training and marketing.
Do you collaborate with any of the following: (Check all that apply)
NGOs/Nonprofits, For profit companies, Academia/universities.
If yes, how have these collaborations helped your innovation to succeed?
We currently collaborate with Rhode Island School of Design by offering their students the opportunity to work alongside artisans to create KEZA collections. We are expanding that dynamic to other top fashion universities this year as well.
We collaborate with NGOs that work with artisans, providing their beneficiaries with additional training and distribution. This is part of the reason we do not have an NGO. There are already hundreds of them in operations that specifically lack the ability to brand, market and distribute their goods. This is part of why KEZA exists and is structured the way it is.
We are also setting up partnerships with multiple for-profit businesses to generate public interest in our brand, and to elevate their image as a result of their support of our efforts.
 | 38 weeks agoRavi Saxena said: Jared, I encourage you to continue this great work as its makes a huge difference in these people's lives. In fact, I noticed a similar ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 49 weeks agoRavi Saxena said: Hi Jared, You've got a wonderful organization that seems to be moving the lives of these artists in a positive direction. I thought ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 50 weeks agoJared Angaza updated this Competition Entry. |
| 50 weeks agoJared Angaza submitted this idea. |
