Kenyan Artisans feature in New Zealand Designer Karen Walker’s Eyewear Campaign

New Zealand Fashion Designer Karen Walker is bringing her ‘quirky’ fashion sense to Africa.

Joining a list of designers like Vivienne Westwood, Vans & more collaborating with African organisations to eliminate poverty through fashion, Karen has collaborated with Kenyan artisans through the United Nation’s ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative to produce a new collection of glasses titled “Karen Walker Visible“.

The collection campaign features Maasai beaders, tailors, machinists, cutters, production managers and metal workers and draws its inspiration from the serene land of Kenya.

The ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative connects the fashion business with artisans from disadvantaged communities in Africa and Haiti. It works to create empowerment by training and creating work opportunities for marginalized people.

According to Karen Walker on the brand’s Facebook page, “Karen Walker Visible is our new campaign that aims to highlight, celebrate and acknowledge. The campaign captures our innate optimism, our love of maximum-impact in the images themselves and also directs attention to Kenya in a positive way. The images help to bring visibility to how fashion can be a vital vehicle out of poverty.”

Check out the collection below.

 

The Karen Walker Visible collection will be available in all Karen Walker stores and worldwide by Monday 10th February 2014.