Made In Kibera

Among the hundreds of thousands of residents living in one of the continent’s largest urban slums are artisans and creatives who are putting the buzzing community on fashion’s global map

- Tanya A. Christian

More than 7,000 miles away from the lavish fanfare of New York City’s Fifth Avenue, Kibera’s bustling streets tell a divergent story of fashion ingenuity. Throughout the Nairobi area settlement, bold colors and secondhand style abound among the mud huts that have come to define the “Chocolate City.” Kibera was not always a center for fashion, but today it stands as an emerging scene for the artists who have chosen their bodies as canvases and carefully curate their ensembles as a means of self-expression. Clad in conspicuous garments, these men and women are painting a rich picture of the Kenyan community most often defined by its abject poverty.

For photographer Brian​ Otieno, the opportunity to capture Kibera’s evolving fashion footprint on film has led to an internationally recognized passion project. CNN, the BBC, The New York Times and The Guardian have all spotlighted the work of the 26-year-old, whose Kibera Stories photo collection has been shown in Paris, Lisbon, Kampala and New York City. Since 2016 the documentarian, who goes by the moniker Storitellah, has used his skills behind the lens to show a vibrant society that has grown in spite of scarcity. “You find that so many people come to Kibera, and they always have in mind that they’re coming to a poor place, so they are going to take ‘poor’ images; they are going to take photos of people suffering,” Otieno says. “And, yeah, I know that’s happening, but that’s only part of the story.”