By Edgar R. Batte
Posted
Saturday, December 12
2015 at
02:00
For a moment, it is not easy to recognise what type of cloth Josephine Kyomuhendo is wearing on top of her shirt but it attracts curiosity. The cloth is a black neck detail won around her neck, like a collar, with an extended lobe. It is a piece of fine barkcloth.
José Hendo, as the fashion designer calls herself, chose barkcloth as her main fabric. Based in Tottenham, London, she runs a fashion house by the same names, which began operations in 2011.
From materials, to clever cutting and simplified production processes, the designer prides herself in quality, while aiming to stay relevant.
Environmentally conscious
Hendo’s designs are contemporary, edgy, tailored, timeless pieces. “Eco-sustainable fashion has moved from the fringe into mainstream fashion,” she says, adding that as a result, “It is important for eco-clothing companies to produce fashionable garments.
My dream is to make barkcloth work alongside mainstream fabrics.” The designer’s idea is to use eco-friendly fabrics, from organic barkcloth, cotton, and hemp, to create unique one-off pieces to make garments such as suits, denim and wedding dresses.
Hendo promotes the use of organic, eco-textiles and recycled material.
Using barkcloth
Hendo’s relationship with the local product, taken from trees in Masaka District, in central Uganda, began 15 years ago. A friend, Fred Kato Mutebi helps her collect the cloth and either exports it or takes it to London.
The designer chose to work with barkcloth because it is organic and she can harvest from the same tree for more than 60 years. Barkcloth is harvested from the inner bark of the Mutuba tree (ficus natalensis).
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognises barkcloth making as a century-old technique, one that is a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.
Hendo did her research in recycling, at London School of Fashion. She wanted to find out what happened to garments when they are thrown away. In UK, she found that clothes are thrown in a ditch.
“I decided to do away with the throw-away culture. We design with a sustainable approach to everything. That is why I started looking to organic fabrics and found out about barkcloth,” she recounts.
Her lecturers were not happy about the dull colour of barkcloth but she was able to dye it and work with it. She has never looked back.
London Fashion Week
It is the dream of every designer to showcase at the London Fashion Week and through a strange twist events, Hendo got a chance to launch her label on the big stage.
“It is hard getting to showcase in the London Fashion Week. I am black and a woman. However, I work differently and that helps. I have my own way of thinking. I am not influenced by anything in fashion. I start concepts from scratch, from nature, sculpture, art, so my work is very individual. It is not a copy of anybody else’s work.”
Some of the organisers had heard about her work with barkcloth and imagery and they were looking for a designer to fill a gap because a South African designer could not make it.
“The organisers made inquiries with some people who knew me, and I was invited. When they saw my Resonance collection, they were happy to have me on the show.”
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