“Zuri,” Swahili for “good,” best describes the iconic global women’s clothing brand Zuri. Founded by Sandra Zhao and Ashleigh Miller in Nairobi, Kenya, the brand boasts a signature dress designed and produced in multiple colours. The clothing line has also expanded to include tops/blouses, baskets, hand-made necklaces and earrings, tablecloths and mats, and shoals.
Zuri’s production is inspired by the rich history and impeccable quality of the East African Kitenge and the Ankara prints of West Africa. Traditionally woven to communicate messages or commemorate events, Kitenge and Ankara incorporate both the history of ancient civilizations and the history of colonialism.
By sourcing from East Africa-based manufacturers, Sandra Zhao and Ashleigh Miller hope to contribute to the regeneration of the local Kenyan industry, helping to create jobs and opportunities that have all but disappeared.
Founded in 2016, the brand has expanded to boast multiple locations globally including New York and San Francisco in the USA, and Paris, France, among others. Their premier clientele includes global figures like former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
History
Before immigrating to Kenya, Ashleigh Miller was a rug dealer specializing in Persian and Turkish carpets and kilims in New York. In Jan 2015, she moved to Nairobi with her husband, their 4-month-old baby (now 9 years old) and their two dogs.
“The move to Nairobi was a big one, but the decision came easily! My husband was a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya back in 2004-2006, and we had been here many times together since,” she told Travel Under the Radar in 2020.
“I loved visiting, and when he got a job offer in Nairobi, it seemed like a good time to start something new. We had been in New York for 10 years, and I was pregnant with my son, so the space and the outdoor life here really appealed to me”.
Miller and Sandra Zhao met in 2016 at a wedding in Nairobi wedding, where Miller noticed Zhao’s unique dress, struck by its fit, breathable fabric, and fun print. The two had an instant connection.
Zhao, who was living in Kenya at the time, had designed it herself in preparation for a trip to South Sudan earlier that year. Parallel aesthetic sensibilities bonded the two women, and what began as one dress quickly turned into the clothing line Zuri.
“I think Ashley and I are impulsive, but also sort of gut-oriented people,” Sandra told Shopify.
As a gesture of her excitement, Sandra offered to buy fabric, take it to Flo, and have a dress made for her new friend. The two women later met for dinner and Sandra presented her friend with the custom dress. Ashleigh was impressed.
“We just wanted to create something that would simplify women’s wardrobes. We figured it should save time AND space. By having the same dress in a few prints, you wouldn’t really have to think about putting an outfit together, and if you chose to make it your uniform, you wouldn’t need any other clothes,” Miller says.
“We also designed it so that if you did want “just one”, you could wear it several different ways and it would look like a new outfit each time (tunic, dress, jacket, or skirt). It’s super durable, and machine washable, so whether you’re wearing it to a cocktail party OR (as we often do) unloading boxes, it works!”
Sandra and Miller also wanted to make something that was universally flattering, so they played with the pattern a lot at the beginning to ensure that it looked great on women ranging in size from XXS to 2X.
“So, whether it’s “just one dress” per person or “just one dress” for all, the motto works for our concept,” Miller adds.
Zuri
Since its launch, the brand has expanded to include shirts, baskets, and bags, but ethical production and a healthy work environment remain priorities.
The first customers were a few extended contacts reached through social media. But the Zuri founders began to gain traction after working with Diana Opoti, an influential Kenyan producer, publicist, and social-media maven who is well-known in the African fashion scene. Diana wore Zuri dresses to Fashion Week events in South Africa and Nigeria.
Like the first trip to Tanzania, and the connection with Diana, a New York Times article about the brand was another game-changer.
“We didn’t slowly scale up. We were very small and then all of a sudden making a ton of stuff,” Sandra says.
Demand increased too much for the seven tailors sewing Zuri dresses, and production was moved to factories in Kenya.
The women say they visited the factories and looked to ensure that the clothes were made in a safe environment. They say they pay factory workers a market rate, keeping in line with the national system.
Ashleigh and Sandra started establishing Zuri in the U.S. through pop-up stores in San Francisco, Malibu, and New York. But with pop-ups, Ashleigh notes, it became “hard to prep in terms of inventory, knowing what kind of space to get and how to publicize.”
In 2017, she and Sandra opened their first brick-and-mortar Zuri store in New York’s West Village to aplomb.
Made in Kenya
Zuri clothing is 100 per cent made in Kenya, meaning Ashleigh and Sandra know the smallholder farmers who grow the cotton used to make their dresses, but also that they have access and input over the process of spinning that cotton into yarn, weaving that yarn into fabric and printing that fabric for clothing.
“It means accountability for our team, knowing with certainty that the working conditions for the production of our fabrics are healthy and safe and that each worker is paid a fair and living wage”.
Zuri’s production impacts hundreds of smallholder farmers and their families each year. It impacts young Kenyan artists whose voices and work may now have a slightly bigger audience (and fan club:) ). It impacts the Kenyan textile manufacturing industry, which for years has been out-competed in the local market by imported fabrics.
“Finally, it impacts you, because you can know that your dress was made ethically, honestly, and with pride”.
