Kantamanto Social Club is an upcycled fashion collective reclaiming space for marginalised communities, amplifying their voices, and showcasing the Global South’s leadership in sustainability through storytelling, research, and circular fashion innovation at Ghana’s Kantamanto Market.
Define the problem/need you are solving or addressing with your project. How does it address the Open Call criteria, such as environmental impact, social engagement, circularity, user experience, resource efficiency, and community-driven solutions?
Kantamanto Social Club tackles waste colonialism and systemic injustice in the fashion industry by amplifying the voices of communities burdened with global textile waste. The industry profits while externalising its waste, leaving historically marginalised communities to manage the consequences without representation or benefit. Our project aligns with the Open Call criteria by fostering environmental impact through upcycling and circular fashion, promoting social engagement by centring on affected communities, and advancing resource efficiency by regenerating discarded textiles. We create community-driven solutions through co-creation and skill-sharing, ensuring that those most affected lead the conversation. Our approach enhances user experience by shifting perceptions of waste and demonstrating the value of localised, circular economies. By challenging dominant narratives and showcasing the innovation within Kantamanto Market, we advocate for systemic change, proving that sustainability solutions already exist within the Global South.
Please describe your project, reflecting on the concept, inspiration, materials, technical aspects, methods and process(es).
Kantamanto Social Club is an upcycled fashion collective reclaiming space for marginalised communities while challenging waste colonialism. Inspired by the inherent sustainability of Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana, our project supports the transformation of discarded garments into new fashion, proving that sustainability is already embedded in Global South practices. We work with local communities that repurpose the Global North’s unwanted textiles, emphasising circularity and resource efficiency. Our process includes co-creation with Kantamanto upcyclers, storytelling, and research-driven advocacy. Through exhibitions, workshops, and collaborations, we create space for these artisans’ voices, shifting the narrative around sustainable fashion. By connecting local expertise with global platforms, we foster systemic change in fashion education, policy, and industry practices.
What do you think makes your project innovative compared to the existing efforts and ideas in the field it addresses?
Our project shifts the sustainable fashion narrative from a Global North-centric perspective to one that recognises the Global South’s leadership, particularly the Kantamanto community. Unlike efforts that treat waste management as a problem to be solved externally, we highlight Kantamanto’s ingenuity, resilience, and circular economy practices. By centering community-driven upcycling, reclaiming space for marginalised voices, and fostering global-local collaborations, we challenge waste colonialism and redefine sustainable fashion as a decolonial movement. Global climate solutions must support collaboration between formal and informal economies. Often dismissed, the informal sector is vital to sustainability and circular economies. By legitimising and elevating these systems, we reimagine sustainable fashion as co-creation rather than unilateral intervention. Kantamanto Social Club is just the beginning—a prototype for future initiatives worldwide, each adapting to local contexts while promoting circularity, equity, and decolonisation.
Does it impact or reflect young people need(s) and how?
This project directly addresses the needs of young people, particularly those in the Kantamanto community and global youth engaged in sustainable fashion. Many young designers and upcyclers in Kantamanto depend on second-hand clothing for their livelihoods but often lack recognition, resources, and opportunities to scale their work. By fostering knowledge-sharing, international collaboration, and policy advocacy, the project empowers young creatives to shape the future of sustainable fashion. Through exhibitions, storytelling, and partnerships with institutions like Saxion and BlueCrest Fashion School, the project connects young people across the Global North and South, driving cross-cultural exchange and systemic change. By challenging industry norms and promoting community-led sustainability, it inspires young creatives to take ownership of their futures while addressing environmental and economic injustices. As young designers, we are learning to engage meaningfully with communities—designing ‘with’ rather than ‘for.’ Kantamanto Social Club serves as a model, redefining designers as facilitators of systemic change.
