NKWO is an artisanal brand at the forefront of the sustainable fashion movement in Nigeria with the conservation of natural resources and the environment as the label's core values. Guided by THE PHILOSOPHY OF LESS, low impact limited edition and one-off pieces are created from post-consumer textile waste, locally sourced natural fibres and upcycled denim.
As a call to action to address the lack of adequate waste management systems in Nigeria and the fact that many of the local artisans are the last in their line of craft, the founder, Nkwo Onwuka relaunched the brand in 2012.
She turned this challenge into an opportunity to bridge the gap between textile waste reduction and traditional craft skills preservation by experimenting with waste as a resource and it was during this time that she invented a new African ethical waste fabric called DAKALA™ CLOTH.
The brand is creating meaningful change on the continent by supporting socio-economic development through the NKWO TRANSFORM PROJECT, a social innovation initiative focused on upskilling vulnerable women and working closely with artisans and local makers to introduce more mindful ways of modern garment production.
Loom Weaving at NKWO
Nkwo Onwuka, Founder
Nkwo Onwuka is a seasoned sustainability expert in the Nigerian fashion industry and she is devoted to promoting a positive image of Africa with her unique interpretations of the rich history, culture and traditions.For over a decade Nkwo Onwuka has gained a reputation for innovation and creativity and through the brand NKWO, she has gained repeated recognition for her work in the sustainable fashion space.In 2018 she represented Nigeria at the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange exhibition in Buckingham Palace.
The exhibition moved to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York where her piece, ‘Spirit of the Dance” is now in the archives of the Institute’s museum. As an expert in her field, she facilitated a program powered by Lagos Fashion Week called Green Access - a fashion accelerator program that aims to inspire young creatives to consciously create social, economic and environmentally sustainable brands through which she hosted workshops and mentored designers – from its inception till 2021. In 2021 she was featured on CNN’s African Voices as a Changemaker and later that year contributed to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s book, ‘Circular Design for Fashion’.
Nkwo Onwuka is one of 45 designers from 20 countries to feature in the V&A Museum AFRICA FASHION exhibition, where one of her iconic Dakala™ Cloth pieces has been acquired as part of the permanent collection and this same piece was nominated for the Beazley Design of the Year Award at the London Design Museum. In 2022 the recognition continued when she was selected as one of the ten Honorees for The Conscious Fashion Campaign and appeared in the collective campaign on the NASDAQ billboard in Times Square, at the UN headquarters and Spring Studios in New York. In September that year, Nkwo won the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI) Sustainable Fashion Award for Emerging Designer sponsored by the Bicester Collection.
More recently she spoke at the United Nations Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network Annual Meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York and her participation in several high profile international fashion shows and publications have seen Nkwo Onwuka emerge as one of Africa’s leading fashion designers as she champions the African renaissance.