ABOUT
This designer started a job skills training program for leatherworking in Nairobi, Kenya. This led to a full-fledged for-profit manufacturing operation and leather brand, which employs the trainees full time after they complete the program.
As the training program grew, the founder noticed that more than ninety percent of the candidates who came for interviews for a stitching position (a skilled, higher paying job) were men, and that these men go on to train younger men – not women. She’s now expanding her training program to focus on training more women.
Now there are thirty-two artisans working with byproduct cow leather to make their beautiful bags. The fringe on the bags is hand cut, taking a full day to make all of the cuts and another day to stitch together. The handles are made from recycled brass in a separate workshop where they produce five sets a day.
