Industry Spotlight: Sunny Dolat
Sunny Dolat is a Kenyan fashion stylist, creative director, production designer and co-founder of TheNestCollective, a multidisciplinary collective working on film, fashion, music and visual arts. Sunny Dolat, born in Nairobi has found himself in a unique position in the current East African and overall African creative community. From co-founding this homegrown collective, to crossing borders participating in Southern Africa’s Design Indaba, Sunny never seems to have his plate too full. Below is a recent conversation in which I had a chance to pick his brain.
How has 2020 been so far, where did you quarantine?
2020 has been so surreal, every now and again, you’re not too sure if you’re watching an episode of Black Mirror or if this is real life. I’ve been in Nairobi from March, I was lucky enough to get back into the country just as they were closing the borders, so I was quite grateful for that. March and April were particularly difficult, there was so much uncertainty and anxiety, and that became quite crippling for many people, myself included. But slowly I managed to establish a new rhythm of working, so that was great. I’m hoping the rest of 2020 is kinder to us all.
What are your thoughts on the newfound love for African creativity and fashion in particular?
For a long time, design from Africa has always had a moment, a passing window that usually lasts no more than a couple of months before the window passes on along and the Continent has to wait another 5-8 years to be seen as ho; again. These ‘moments’ are always bittersweet for me, because part of me is truly excited for the people who are able to benefit from the opportunities at that given time, but part of me is also very aware of the fleeting nature of these ‘moments’ that will no doubt passes and we have to wait another number of years to be ‘hot’ again. My hope is that this time round, with all the conversations that have been had over the years, that the global north has learnt not to reduce the culture and aesthetics of a Continent to a ‘moment’ but instead find ways to ensure that there is a continued appreciation, availing of opportunities and movement of capital to Africa and African creatives.
What inspired The Nest Collective?
There have been several iterations of The Nest, and each iteration has been inspired by something different. When we started The Nest, we wanted to create a sort of playground for artists and creative minds to gather, to think and to make. After about a year and a half of running the space, we started to make creative work together and thus our collective identity was born. Our work—being born in Nairobi—makes strongest reference to African urban and contemporary experiences, establishing this as our primary datum for inquiry on our histories and reflections about possible futures.
What do you think of the emergence of African fashion eCommerce (Industries Africa for example) sites?
It’s been encouraging to see the growth of the fashion e-commerce landscape in Africa, but we need a lot more. In the past couple of months, we’ve seen many traditional retailers launch e-commerce platforms due to the store closures necessitated by the pandemic. It’ll be interesting to see how these newer platforms are able to define their offering and stand out from their competitors.
Do you believe that all African designers not just luxury or those with access will benefit from this?
Absolutely! It’s important to note that the demand for African design is not limited to luxury goods. The success of brands like Haute Baso from Rwanda or Siri Studio from Kenya for instance can attest to this, they offer extremely well designed, well considered products that retail at very accessible price points.
Where does your fashion journey begin? And where does it end?
I started being curious about clothing when I was about 14, that was about the time I attended my first fashion show. Suddenly I was immersed into this universe that I hadn’t known existed. That curiosity solidified quite quickly, so when I started my A’ Levels, I picked visual arts as one of my main subjects with a focus on fashion and photography. For a while, I dabbled in fashion design, then a friend asked me to help him on a shoot, and I ended up styling that shoot. That was the start of my styling career. My interest and understanding of fashion has shifted and grown over the years, I don’t call myself a stylist anymore, even the title creative director, which I’ve used for about 3 years, am using less and less, because I’ve moved onto a new curiosity and way of working which I’m not really able to define quite yet. I don’t really know where the journey ends, but hopefully it’s not ending anytime soon.
How was speaking at Design Indaba?
It was certainly a moment of validation. I first attended DI in 2015, and I remember that year, one of the speakers was the amazing Senegalese artist Omar Viktor Diop and I was so awestruck by this platform of global design excellence, because that’s exactly what DI is. So, you can imagine my reaction when I got an email from them last year asking me if I wanted to do a keynote at their 25-year anniversary! It was incredibly humbling.
The question on everyone’s tongue at the moment, is in regards to Africa’s future. Where do you see the future of African fashion?
I believe we’re currently witnessing the mainstreaming of African design talent globally, whether in the form of industry acknowledgements, such as Thebe Magugu’s win of the 2019 LVMH award or the appointment of Mowalola to head Kanye’s GAP collaboration. More and more, African creatives are being given a seat at the proverbial table and we will continue to see more Africans being appointed in leadership roles at major fashion houses. It’s only a matter of time until one of the big fashion conglomerates - LVMH or Kering buys into an African luxury brand (if they haven’t already).
All photos provided by Sunny Dolat
