NIKIN celebrates anniversary with a trip to Africa

(CONNECT) To celebrate the company’s tenth anniversary, NIKIN founders Nicholas Hänny and Robin Gnehm are taking a small team to Kenya and Uganda. The Africa trip, scheduled for 27 September to 6 October, will focus on two main topics: reforestation and the management of used clothing from the Global North, according to a statement from the Aarau-based company.

Since its launch, NIKIN has planted a tree for every product sold. That total now stands at nearly three million. “But after ten years, we don’t want to just celebrate a number,” Hänny is quoted as saying. “We want to see what has become of them on the ground and, at the same time, take a closer look at an issue that’s becoming more uncomfortable for our industry: What actually happens to clothing when we no longer want it?”

NIKIN is visiting various projects in Kenya's Mau Forest together with the reforestation organization One Tree Planted and the women-led, nonprofit Wezesha Community Based Organization. The trip also includes a visit to a circular economy initiative for textiles and other materials near Dandora, one of Africa’s largest unregulated landfills in Nairobi, before continuing to Uganda.

In the capital city of Kampala, NIKIN will meet designer Bobby Kolade. His fashion label, Buzigahill, buys secondhand clothing from the Global North at Owino Market, upcycles it into luxury fashion for his “Return To Sender” collection, and ships the pieces back to the countries they came from.

Planting trees will remain a key part of NIKIN, according to Hänny. “At the same time, in the coming years we want to focus much more on how products are made, how long they’re used, and what happens to them afterward. We’re not traveling to Kenya and Uganda because we already know all the answers. We’re going there because we want to take a closer look and learn.” Media representatives are invited to join the trip. ce/mm