When I founded O’Eclat Designs Co., my vision was never just to make handbags. It was to build a brand where craftsmanship and humanity are inseparable.
We work with local artisans, each carrying generations of skill and heritage in every stitch.
We produce in small batches, allowing time for quality and creativity without exploiting labour.
We pay fair wages and invest in artisan growth, because no handbag should ever come at the cost of someone’s dignity.
We offer repair services, extending the life of our products and honouring the hands that made them.
Every piece we create carries not just leather and fabric, but the hands, heritage, and humanity of its makers.
Sustainability is Not Just a Choice — It’s a Responsibility
Conversations about ethical fashion often focus on overseas supply chains — underpaid workers in Asia or garment raids in Los Angeles. But this reality is not distant.
Across Africa — from Lagos to Accra, Nairobi to Addis Ababa — garment workers and artisans also face exploitation. Many endure long hours in unsafe workshops, work without proper contracts, and earn wages that fail to reflect their skill.
The influx of secondhand clothing and fast fashion imports continues to undervalue local craftsmanship, threatening livelihoods and heritage.
As African brands, we cannot wear “sustainable” as a label alone. We have a responsibility to protect the dignity of every person who cuts, sews, and stitches our creations. True sustainability must go beyond eco-materials and design trends — it must centre the welfare of the people who make fashion possible.
Fashion is Political, but Most of All, It’s Human
Every handbag we craft at O’Eclat passes through multiple skilled hands — from the cutter shaping the leather to the craftsperson stitching the lining.
Slow fashion, for me, is not only about sustainability or style. It’s about honouring the humanity of everyone involved in making what we wear. If we lose that recognition, we lose the soul of fashion.
A Call to Action
Every bag, every garment, every accessory passes through human hands.
As makers, we must honour those hands.
As consumers, we must choose brands that value people as much as products.
At O’Eclat Designs Co., we believe fashion can only be truly sustainable if it is first and foremost human. And as an African brand, we hold ourselves accountable to ensure that sustainability remains not just a choice, but a responsibility.
