Sylvia Omina is the founder and creative director of Omina Otsieno, an innovative fashion brand in Kenya, renowned for its distinctive jewelry crafted from banana fiber.
Born and raised between Nairobi and Busia, Sylvia’s formative years in Busia ignited her passion for crafting, where she found abundant materials at her disposal.
Inspired by her familial heritage of creativity, including her mother’s adeptness at crocheting and her grandparents’ tradition of weaving handcrafted baskets for livelihood. Sylvia began her journey of artistic expression.
Driven by a steadfast commitment to social impact and artistic innovation. Sylvia continues to redefine the boundaries of fashion entrepreneurship, inspiring change not only in the lives of individuals but also within their communities.
We’re happy to share this with you but before you read, check out part one of this interview.
How Did the Idea of Using Banana Fiber Come About?
In 2019, I was part of a fashion incubation program. And during the program, one of our mentors asked us to bring our portfolios of the work we’ve done. Then I was doing clothing, but I could also do other things like I was doing jewelry from crochet like you crochet the jewelry.
I was designing furniture, rustic furniture then. I was doing a lot of things, making home decor stuff. When she asked us to bring our portfolios, I brought all my four portfolios. One for clothing, one for crochet jewelry, one for rustic furniture, and one for the home decor that I had done.
And when she saw the jewelry, she was like, this is amazing. You could think of a sustainable way of doing it, because the fashion industry, again, like I said, it’s one of the most populated industries.
We explored ideas and that’s how the banana fiber idea came about and things just aligned. You know the way sometimes you wish to do something but you are still trying to know how you can do. So the moment I thought of banana fiber, like everything aligned because first I had wanted to work with women in my rural home.
So here is an opportunity and banana plants are available in my rural home. Like in every 10 homes there’s at least nine banana plants. Like everything aligned the way I wanted.
And I remember at the end of that program we had an exhibition. I did my first capsule collection and it consisted of just three neck pieces. I go back to those pictures and look at them and I’m like this is where I’ve come from, like I have really grown. At that time I wasn’t even using this brass part (points at the ring on one of her fingers).
This is a completely new product, I believe, in the market. So it was hard for me to sell in the beginning. Because I invested in the bigger products, the necklaces, alone, without considering the prices. And the bigger products take longer to produce.
So that means they cost more. So along the line, I learned that and then the brass idea came about. And then I had to start thinking of smaller products that can also move fast. And that’s how I came up with the rings, the earrings, and the bangles.
That way, you’re not losing out, you have clients who come for the expensive products. But also have those fast moving products to grow your business.
How Do You Ensure That the Process of Harvesting the Banana Stems and Extracting the Fiber From the Banana Stem is Sustainable?
It’s already an environmentally friendly product. And even the way we produce because we don’t use chemicals. We don’t use chemicals to preserve it. We use a very environmentally friendly process. So we harvest a stem, take small strips from the stem, and then extract the fiber and dry it.
How Do You Envision Your Brand Contributing to Sustainable Development in Africa and Globally?
My brand is contributing to sustainable development and inspiring women in Africa especially to do the same. Because traditional craftsmanship is something that has existed not only in Kenya but across Africa. We used to live in a very sustainable way as Africans. So this is also another way of igniting that kind of life that we once lived. Because this is the moment when it’s needed because of our planet.
How Does Your Brand Stay Ahead of Trends While Maintaining its Commitment to Traditional Craftsmanship?
My brand stays ahead because we are always inventing. We make sure that the whole process is environmentally friendly and sustainable. So we stay ahead of the game by remaining to always be a sustainable brand and minding our processes on how we produce our product. We are currently working to incorporate organic dyes. So that’s also one of the things that has made us lag behind in producing this new collection. And yes, so we stay ahead by always being inventive, innovating and always looking carefully at our processes.
How Did You Build Systems and Processes That Allows the Smooth Running of Your Business?
Sometimes it’s difficult to build processes, systems that work well. Understand that sometimes you find out that people are overwhelmed, especially with the artisans that I work with in Nairobi. Because sometimes they have work from other people. For me to solve those kinds of problems, I decided that I will train women who are working very hard back in the village and then employ them. That way I don’t have to depend entirely on someone who has work from other people. It can bring some clashes sometimes. For me I decided to go that way to have a smooth running for my business.
Can You Explain the Strategy for Leveraging Crafts and Fashion in Rural Areas to Create Economic Prosperity?
As I have already told you, I do that through training them. And then once they are good to go, I employ them. That way they have some extra cash besides their daily hustles.
How Do You Envision Omina Otsieno Becoming One of the Most Inspiring Sustainable Brands in Africa?
We look to become one of the best sustainable fashion brands that focuses on environment, culture and people, both in Africa and the world.
What Advice Would You Give to Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Especially Women Looking to Start Their Business?
Any inspiring young person out there, I would advise them to start small. As they make little progress then they make it big. Because sometimes we sit on our ideas because we want more money to get started. But it never comes that easy. So just start small in the smallest way that you can. And then slowly by slowly you will make progress.
Where Can We Learn More About You and Your Brand?
Click the links to learn more about Sylvia Omina Otsieno and her brand Omina Otsieno:
Watch the interview here.
