re-Made in Kenya
For decades Gikomba, one of the biggest open-air market in east-Africa, has been famous for its « mitumba ». These second-hand clothes and shoes are flooding east Africa at a price defying any competition. Every year, an estimated 100,000 tons are unloaded at the port of Mombasa, the entry point to Kenya’s market.
Wholesalers, small retailers and daily workers are collaborating to give a second life to second-hand clothes. When they are dispatched in Gikomba, clothes and shoes are spread among an abundant workforce of tailors, dry cleaners, dyers, working to reshape the « mitumba » to Kenyan standards. XXL American Jeans and European shirts are resized to fit Kenyan consumers.
This giant workshop, which spreads on the bank of the river streaming through the market, is an unregulated microcosm in the centre of Kenyan’s capital. Many migrants from Kenyan countrysides and from other neighbouring countries come here to find a job. Here, public services are missing. Only evangelical predicators, who are preaching directly inside the workshops, seem to be out of the « Kitumba » business.
With its second-hand clothes and shoes, this market is the antithesis of globalization based on single-use hyperconsumption, at the price of high social and environmental costs.
Full series in French on Hans Lucas (here).
Other photo series from Kenya (here).
Eric is an asylum seeker from Burundi, who arrived in Nairobi after the last political crisis in his country. Now, he is a shoes retailer, and every day he buys second-hand, refurbished them, before selling them in the street. |
Eric is an asylum seeker from Burundi, who arrived in Nairobi after the last political crisis in his country. Now, he is a shoes retailer, and every day he buys second-hand, refurbished them, before selling them in the street. |
Wallace graduated from University three years ago. After completing his studies, he ran a small warehouse, neighbouring his mother s, which is slightly bigger. Recently, his mother switched suppliers, and started to wholesale Chinese "mitumba". |
A wholesaler is waiting for clients in his metal sheets warehouse in Gikomba. |
A worker is having a nap among the drying second-hand shoes. |
Paul, 23, is a jeans retailer. He buys a few dozens second-hand jeans, and then, he has people dying them, touching them up, and ironing them, before selling them as new in the streets of Nairobi. |
Nema is from Tanzania, and she arrived three years ago. She just came to look for job. She like Kenya because the money is better. She has a baby, she is not married. She is 20 years old. According to her, the money in Kenya has a lot of value. |
Winnie work as an independent tailor. She is also from Western Kenya, but was born in Nairobi thirty-three years ago. Before working in Gikomba, she used to be employed as a social worker for one of the many NGOs operating in Kenya s capital. |
A tailor is having a lunch break after a morning of hard work in one of the many workshops in Gikomba. |
A man is dying in clothes in the shore of a river-stream in Gikomba market. |
View of the second-hand jeans touched-up area. Here, second-hand jeans are dyed, touched-up and ironed to look like new. In the meantime, the river stream passing by is used as a trash. |
Daniel is dying jeans with blue ink to make them look like new. |
Daniel is having a lunch break in one of the many small restaurants inside Gikomba market. Here, a micro-society has emerged, with restaurants, churches and leisure places. |
Second hand shirts are drying in the Gikomba market. |
Salers are enjoying a break, gambling on a pool game, during a working day in Gikomba market. |
Amos, 22, and is a dry-cleaner in Gikomba market. He comes from Bondo, in the western part of Kenya. He works for small traders who need to iron the second-clothes they buy: "Sometimes you can get 500 shillings (5 USD), sometimes 1,000 (10 USD), sometimes it s even 200 (2 USD)... It depends the way the job is." |
Amos, 22, and is a dry-cleaner in Gikomba market. He comes from Bondo, in the western part of Kenya. He works for small traders who need to iron the second-clothes they buy: "Sometimes you can get 500 shillings (5 USD), sometimes 1,000 (10 USD), sometimes it s even 200 (2 USD)... It depends the way the job is." |
Benson is collecting money at the entrance of the toilets he built in Gikomba market. A few years back, after his warehouse burnt, Benson decided to built toilets, which eventually became a good investment, as the market was lacking toilet. Besides, Benson is also a pastor. |
A man is using a coal-iron to iron clothes to make them look new. |
An evangelic paster is preaching among the workshops in the Gikomba market. |
Victor hugs his wife. Victor comes from Western Kenya. Before, he used to work in the industrial area, but now, he works as a dry-cleaner. Here, he shares the small workshop with friends and family members, who also come from Western Kenya. |
Victor comes from Western Kenya. Before, he used to work in the industrial area, but now, he works as a dry-cleaner. Here, he shares the small workshop with friends and family members, who also come from Western Kenya. |
A female pastor is preaching in the Gikomba market. Here, dozens of pastors operate, and each of them has their zones of preaching. Like in many places in Africa, evangelical street preaching has emerged and become huge. |
A potential buyer is looking at a t-shirt representing Hilary Clinton, and with “#BadBitch” written on it. |
Winnie sells wedding dresses and other dresses in the Gikomba market. Before, she used to buy dresses from the UK, now her dresses come mostly from China. Before, she used to sell door to door the dresses, but she then decided to open her own shop in Gikomba. Today, a lady is trying a dress for her upcoming wedding. A wedding dress is sold for around 8,000 shillings (80 USD). |
A man is walking in the narrows alleys between metal sheets workshops of Gikomba. |
A woman is selecting shirts before selling them somewhere in Nairobi or in Kenya. |
A female paster is preaching in the Gikomba market. |
"Fashion Steve" is doing his weekly shopping at Gikomba. He selects only the best clothes and leather jackets he will then sell at his vintage shops. Steve has an eye for fashion and trends. His shops are situated in Westlands, a popular area among expats and local upper class, known for its nightlife, its malls and its trendy bars and restaurants. Steve can quickly find what will work for his clientele, who dubbed him "Fashion Steve". "Fashion Steve" fait ses achats hebdomadaires a Gikomba. Il selectionne seulement les meilleurs vetements et manteaux en cuire, qu il vendra par la suite a ses boutiques vintages. Steve a un oeil pour la mode. Ses boutiques se situent a Westland, un quartier populaire parmi les expats, et les classes moyennes superieure, connu pour sa vie nocturne, ses malls et ses restaurants et bars branches. Steve peut rapidement determiner ce qui plaira a sa clientele, qui le surnomme <>. |
"Fashion Steve" is doing his weekly shopping at Gikomba. He selects only the best clothes and leather jackets he will then sell at his vintage shops. Steve has an eye for fashion and trends. His shops are situated in Westlands, a popular area among expats and local upper class, known for its nightlife, its malls and its trendy bars and restaurants. Steve can quickly find what will work for his clientele, who dubbed him "Fashion Steve". "Fashion Steve" fait ses achats hebdomadaires a Gikomba. Il selectionne seulement les meilleurs vetements et manteaux en cuire, qu il vendra par la suite a ses boutiques vintages. Steve a un oeil pour la mode. Ses boutiques se situent a Westland, un quartier populaire parmi les expats, et les classes moyennes superieure, connu pour sa vie nocturne, ses malls et ses restaurants et bars branches. Steve peut rapidement determiner ce qui plaira a sa clientele, qui le surnomme <>. |