African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure (Jan 2016)
The safari suit: imperatives for recreational dress innovation in Kenya
Abstract
By employing the concept of organizational agility, the paper explores factors that can foster scalability in Kenyan fashion startups. In a market that is inundated with South East Asian imports and a notorious albeit thriving second-hand goods not to mention fake and counterfeit items, the Kenyan fashion industry is in dire straits indeed. That is not to say that there are no successful firms in the industry but to observe that there could be much to improve to help bolster the developmental aspirations of the nation. This is an industry that often requires low capital for startups, is open to all sorts of innovation, is women and youth friendly as well as addresses a basic human need among other things. Yet, to the best of my recollection, other than the Maasai leso or shuka, the safari suit and the kiondo basket (for a short time) are probably the only Kenyan fashion items that have achieved global style. The industry needs to innovate beyond the scope of a standard business model and with a view to alleviating poverty, creating employment, reducing inequality and promoting human dignity. In order to achieve scalability in Kenyan fashion startups, one needs to consider the life cycle of product development by ensuring that enterprises are based on shortening the time between idea development to product innovation and market entry and then lengthening market presence. Using a case study of an engaged scholarship program in Kenya, I combine the three concepts of Innovation, Business Agility, and Directed Idea Generation to suggest ways of fostering scalability for startups in the industry to reinvent one of the most iconic recreational dress item to ever come out of Kenya.
