Meet Aladimma Uche: The Engineer Turned Designer Behind Fashion Brand AZACH Creating Products from Waste
Aladimma Uche, the 28-year-old fashion designer behind clothing brand, AZACH, talks about upcycling and sustainable fashion in a recent interview with Legit.ng's Kumashe Yaakugh.
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The precise negative environmental impact of the fashion industry remains unknown, but it is sizeable.
Despite these issues, the industry continues to thrive. Valued at over $90 billion, it answers consumers' rising demand for trendy and affordable clothes - regardless of the environmental consequences.
Fast fashion is a term used to describe the clothing industry's business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and high-fashion designs, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail stores quickly, while demand is at its highest.
According to Panaprium, fast fashion has a huge economic impact. It is responsible for the apparel industry's recent growth (on average 4.78%) and future growth (5.91% in the next three years).
However, while many people are jumping on the fast fashion trend and cashing out in large amounts, some are sticking to their values as they continue to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable fashion and upcycling.
Source: Instagram
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One such person is Aladimma Uche, the owner of AZACH - a Nigerian eco-friendly clothing brand that creates all its products from waste.
"I was upcycling even before I knew what it was" - Aladimma
Interestingly, he has been upcycling and promoting sustainable fashion way before he even knew what it was.
"Instead of throwing away my clothes, I would turn them into new ones. That was what I was doing until somebody then asked if I knew what upcycling was, and urged me to read up on it."
Uche explains that it was at this point that he realised what he had been doing - something he was passionate about and also good for the environment.
"I started reading about sustainable fashion, upcycling and what it is. Before then, I knew I wanted to do fashion, I just didn't know the direction I wanted to go. But after learning about the movement, I decided to continue and be intentional about what I had been doing."
How Aladimma Uche is promoting sustainable fashion
Around 20% of industrial wastewater pollution worldwide originates from the fashion industry, according to a report by WRI.
The current linear model of fashion production sees resources consumed, turned into a product, and then discarded, leading to colossal waste - another contributing factor to environmental pollution.
AZACH, however, is focused on promoting a circular fashion industry where waste and pollution are eliminated, and materials are used for as long as possible, and then reused for new products.
"We make our products mostly from thrift items. We got to thrift sellers and get condemned denim items that they are unable to sell due to the condition of the denim. And then, we also buy sample materials which we use in upcycling the condemned denim pieces."
And for scrap materials left after production, Aladimma says AZACH maintains a zero waste production system.
He states that rather than throw them away, they are used to make pillows, adding that the brand is also looking for other avenues to make good use of leftover materials after production.
A brief trip to their Instagram page and website shows that almost all their products are made from denim.
On plans to expand options for customers, Aladimma says:
"I hope to explore other materials but right now, I am focused on denim as I believe it has a lot of potential."
Aladimma Uche recounts how AZACH came about
The 28-year-old who carved the brand name from his initials recounted how his cousins' unappreciation for the clothes he gave them pushed him into upcycling.
"Whenever I give my cousins clothes and they either did not wear it or turn ed them into rags, it would get me upset because these were clothes that I loved and they weren't being appreciated by my cousins. That was when the idea of upcycling came to me. So, instead of giving these clothes out, I'll take them to tailors and have them cut and join different clothes together to make something new."
Uche says that he would get compliments from his friends whenever he wore these self-created pieces. And when they learned that he had made them, they paid him to do the same for them.
"So I just thought, if my friends like it and are willing to pay, why not just turn it into a business?That was how the idea of AZACH came about."
My job almost took my life - Aladimma Uche recounts switching career paths
Despite the promise that AZACH held and his burning passion for fashion, Uche says he never really went full-scale with the business.
Running the brand on the side while in school, he took a break from it during his one-year mandatory service as part of the NYSC program.
The UniIlorin mechanical engineering graduate revived the brand afterwards, though as a side hustle as he was, at this point, working with an engineering firm in Lagos.
But the working conditions were not exactly favourable.
"My job was really hectic; it wanted to take my life. So it got to a point where the job no longer made sense to me. So, I thought since fashion is something I've been doing on the side, while in and after school, I decided that I had had enough of the job. So I said to myself, let me try this part and see if it will work out or not."
AZACH hopes to create awareness about the dangers of fast fashion on the environment
Speaking about the goal of AZACH, Uche says he hopes to create as much awareness about the adverse effects of the high consumption of fast fashion on the environment.
"We also want to create as many sustainable products as possible. So, it's not just about creating awareness but also creating products that help preach our message to the consumers."
Through the brand, Uche also hopes to create a positive impact in society. Despite being barely a year old (having officially launched in February), AZACH boasts of empowering five people with jobs.
"We are not up to a year and have already employed about three in-house and two freelance staff. So, to an extent, we are already creating an impact in our environment and hope to create more with this sustainable fashion movement."
Some challenges AZACH faces in the industry
With over 600 followers on Instagram, AZACH joins the pool of small businesses struggling to grow an online presence as well as reach their target market.
According to Uche, getting people's attention is one of the challenges the brand faces, as well as funding to run the business.
"It is hard because there are so many fashion brands out there, so you have to stand out, and even when you stand out, you have to capture their attention. And doing that is hard.
Also, getting funding is hard. Sales are not coming in as often to take care of running costs. Another thing is creating awareness and access to the market. Creating the product is not as difficult as pushing the product to where people will see it and buy it. Awareness and funding."
Sustainable fashion: 10 impressive crochet designs by Nigerian clothing brand Elexiay
Lagos-based brand, Elexiay, is a fast-rising brand gradually gaining recognition for its amazing and unique clothing designs, as seen on Instagram.
Founded by Elyon Adede in 2018, the brand was created with an exclusive focus on one category; crochet.
Crochet is a skill widely taught in many after-school programs. While for most ladies, it is a phase they often grow out of after a stint making hair scrunchies, hats, and handbags.
Source: Legit.ng
