African Cloth, Export Production and Second-hand Clothing in Kenya

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the parallel and intersecting development of three international clothing systems in Kenya: ‘African’ print cloth with its own transnational histories of design, production and trade; export-oriented mass-produced clothing primarily for large Western markets; and the import and sale of second-hand clothing sourced from those same markets. It seeks to expand discussions of production in clothing and textile research beyond an ‘assembly for export’ emphasis, by integrating analyses of export production with both production for domestic consumption and the ‘production’ of local markets for second-hand clothing. The chapter explores the myriad integrations of economic policies with cultural practices in ways elided by state- and firm-centred approaches to the role of textiles and apparel in economic development. The chapter concludes by considering globalization as a reflection of changing global interdependencies as suggested by current practices in textiles and apparel.

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