Clothing I interior
OUR STORY Kampala Fair is a Ugandan fair trade business, working towards accreditation by the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO), and our founding belief is in the power of providing high quality work rather than charity. Founder & creative director Mette Islandi came to Uganda from Denmark in 2007 and was offended at the poor education and life prospects available to many women. She started Kampala Fair as a way of providing real jobs that would give people decent working conditions, skills, a sense of pride in their work and the ability to give themselves and their families a secure future. Mette and British co-owner/director Louise Graymore registered Kampala Fair formally as a company in November 2012.
We’re a brand for whom colour is everything. Our trademark is the use of African Print Fabric in our pieces, and we focus on cuts and designs that flatter real women. Our mission is to grow a thriving socially responsible business that provides lifechanging work to women in Uganda.
OUR WORK Kampala Fair is a small ethical fashion label based in Uganda, East Africa, designing and producing high quality apparel and home décor.
OUR PROMISE For our customers — quality and variety Kampala Fair works with over 300 different African Prints each year, and we hand select bolts of this traditional wax-printed cotton from Kampala textile markets. We have a strong eye for good colour combinations, and each of our designs is produced as a limited edition - so our collections are as varied and unique as our customers. We manage all production from washing fabric to dispatching the finished clothes, so we can guarantee high quality and longevity in all our pieces. We can’t currently trace our fabrics, but we use no chemicals apart from the domestic washing powder, the minimum amount of water and use all fabric remnants in our homewares products. For our staff — quality and security There is no social protection in Uganda, so work is the only means out of poverty. Kampala Fair’s focus is on social impact through providing high quality work; we currently employ 13 staff, who between them support 42 children through school. To us, high quality means we pay good salaries* and pension contributions, provide pleasant and safe working conditions, training and additional benefits (eg loans for health needs, land purchase) to our staff.
RUTH’S STORY Ruth Akiru started making rugs for us, then working in our Kampala store and has recently become our stock manager. “I’ve lived in Kampala for six years; I come from Tororo but I had to look for work. I didn’t have much education but I had the brain to come to Kampala! Before, I wanted to stay at school, but my father died when I was 16 and I had to look after my mother. I had my daughter when I was eighteen, but her father was killed in a car accident, then I was also looking after my niece when my sister died. Working here is very, very good because the work is good, there is no pressure and the payment is good too. For the future, I want to build my mum a house, and I also want to get my daughters educated. My niece is called Mary. She’s eight now, and says she wants to study until she becomes a doctor. My daughter Sandra is six and she wants to be a lawyer so she can decide who is bad and who is good! I tell them to pray for me that I can keep working and support their dreams. For myself, I feel good about Kampala Fair, because fair means pretty and it also means fair to the people who work here. As long as Kampala Fair is here I am here too – I am very happy to be working here.”
* Our rug makers receive on average the equivalent of 132 euros / month, and our tailors on average 226 euros / month. (The average salary in Uganda is 87 euros / month - Uganda Bureau of Statistics. )
OUR CONTACT contact @kampalafair.com OUR WEBSITE www.kampalafair.com OUR COMMUNITY www.facebook.com/kampalafair OUR LOOK www.issuu.com/kampalafair/docs/lookbook
Kampala Fair Limited is registered as a company limited by shares in the Republic of Uganda under the Companies Act (CAP.110). Our shop in Kampala is at Plot 50, Bukoto Street, Kololo, Kampala, and we also sell in Nairobi and in Scandinavia, Germany, the UK and Australia.