Over the weekend, the biggest names in fashion came together at La Scala opera house in Italy for the CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards to discuss and honour fashion’s sustainability movement.

One of the honorees, Nkwo Onwuka, founder and creative director of Nigerian sustainable fashion brand Nkwko clinched the Bicester Collection Award for Emerging Designers.

This Award celebrates the emerging talents of individuals and small brands who, despite their smaller scale, strive to create a significant positive impact in the global fashion community, delivering a message that combines design, innovation, and responsibility.

Nkwo is known for its innovative solutions to combat waste and its invention of the new African textile called Dakala Cloth. By working closely with artisans and local makers, the label creates meaningful change on the continent by involving the many parts of the expanding fashion eco-system in a new way of working that is more mindful as it celebrates and preserves the art of creation.

Nkwo also featured in a collective digital billboard campaign earlier this month, across New York City for the Conscious Fashion Campaign which amplified the visibility and increased media representation of women entrepreneurs leading the fashion sector towards a responsible future. Nkwo, with 13 other recipients of CNMI prizes, received a reproduction of the Venere Degli Stracci— an iconic piece of 20th-century art that was brought back to life thanks to 3D printing.

 

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