Luxury that’s from Africa‚ and for Africa

Around the time the recession rolled through Europe and the luxury consumers left standing fled from logo-mania and toward the “authentic” and the “rare‚” Hanneli Rupert‚ a South African artist living in London‚ said that she began to notice “lots of African influences in fashion.”

And then she began to wonder: “Why shouldn’t Africa benefit from its own expertise? What if there was a way to showcase the local skill set that might also have the related benefit of job creation?”

Her answer was Okapi‚ a leather-goods line that says it is the first Made in Africa luxury brand‚ hence repositioning the continent as a source of premium manufacturing and promoting employment.

It’s a big ambition for a relatively tiny brand.

The first products appeared in 2009 - imagine a cross between the Saint Laurent Mombasa and Balenciaga’s biker bags‚ made largely out of blesbok leather from the Western Cape‚ adorned with springbok horn charms in precious metals‚ and priced from $150 for a card case to $1‚300 for crocodile bag. Still‚ Okapi has been something of a local secret until now‚ sold only out of Merchants on Long‚ Rupert’s multibrand store in Cape Town‚ South Africa‚ and on the Okapi website. But this fall the line will have its global debut‚ thanks to Net-a-Porter‚ which will become its first international retailer.

Which raises the question: Will people buy‚ literally‚ the premise?

The idea that luxury‚ which can be considered the ultimate in excessive self-indulgence‚ can be used to effect real economic change is a complicated proposition‚ and one that is often met with skepticism.

This may be especially true for Rupert‚ 29‚ who is the daughter of Johann Rupert‚ the billionaire chairman of Richemont‚ one of the world’s largest luxury groups‚ whose holdings include Cartier‚ Van Cleef‚ Chloé and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

“There was a certain amount of cynicism around the idea‚ which is probably unavoidable‚” Rupert acknowledges‚ but she also says‚ “there was also a fair amount of pride‚ which comes from frustration with how Africa is now represented and how it could change.” And since her entire business model is built around local sourcing‚ as opposed to a strand of local sourcing added to a core of external production‚ her credibility is strengthened.

“We really loved the ethos of the brand‚ loved the sustainability aspect and the idea of giving back to the community‚” said Alison Loehnis‚ the president of Net-a-Porter. “And we thought our consumers would respond.”

Indeed‚ Okapi is the newest entrant into what is a growing fashion niche composed of brands that identified the explosion of the high end and its international appeal as an opportunity not just to sell expensive stuff‚ but to use people’s desire for ever-more-special and hard-to-find expensive stuff as a lever to create change.

These include Maiyet‚ the womenswear and accessory brand started by Paul van Zyl‚ a founder of the International Center for Transitional Justice‚ which is dedicated to using fashion to create businesses in challenged regions of the world‚ from Pakistan to Ethiopia; Carmina Campus‚ an accessory and furniture line founded by Ilaria Venturini Fendi (yes‚ part of that Fendi family) that works with recycled materials (and via a project with the International Trade Center has also collaborated with African artisans); and Suno‚ which sources its textiles in part from Peru and Kenya‚ among other far-flung locations.

All share a certain approach (in the words of Carmina Campus: “Not charity‚ just work”) as well as an insistence that‚ as Rupert said: “It’s really about how good the product is. The rest is background.”

“It’s true‚ you get the raised eyebrow a lot‚” van Zyl said of Maiyet. “But the real and robust response to that is: Ask any artisan of incredible skill if they would rather be paid $70 a running meter for their silk‚ which is what we pay at the luxury level‚ or $7 a running meter‚ and what the former can do in terms of transforming the lives of their workers‚ and the answer is pretty clear. Why should this be OK only when it comes to Italian and French artisans‚ and suspicious when it comes to African artisans? That’s the real issue.”

© 2014 New York Times News Service

30-07-2014

Vanessa Friedman