*I, as a fashion consumer, am powerful because……*

It is a pure joy just to look at these Kenyan women’s unique hair and clothing styles. Their sharing during the focus group interviews breaks many stereotypes of African fashion that still prevail: they wear both sharp and muted colours and different patterns, not just the animal prints; they love both their braided and natural hair; they have their own cosmetic tastes and skincare routines, regardless of their darker skin tones (and they need sunblock cream, of course!); they fight against Western ideals of beauty and body shapes; they think it’s “dope” to wear very short hair, secondhand clothes, “street” fashion (literally clothes bought from the street hawkers), accessories with a modern twist of African aesthetics, and the trending “mum jeans” and “bubble crocs” which don’t exist in any Western fashion markets; they find AliExpress and SHEIN amazing as they offer affordable and approachable fashion.

We’ve learnt a lot from each of them. Roselyn gives a long list of Kenyan brands she loves which I have never heard of. Kidja says her dream is to create a plus-size womenswear brand to empower those African women who are body-shamed on a daily basis. Medusi, as a medical student, aspires to become a doctor one day who can determine her own professional attire. And most of them, unexpectedly, believe that fashion empowers them in different facets of life. They even find joining these research discussion sessions an empowering experience.