Ugandan designer showcases Bark Cloth in Manchester

What the report says

Ugandan fashion house IGC Fashion has presented its debut collection at Manchester Fashion Week in the United Kingdom, according to Sqoop Uganda. The line, called Lubugo Taka, was shown last month and was described by the brand as the first time a Ugandan fashion label had appeared on the Manchester runway.

The collection takes inspiration from olubugo, Uganda’s traditional bark cloth made from the Mutuba tree, and from the Luganda word taka, meaning soil. Sqoop Uganda reported that the designs use natural materials to reflect on the environmental footprint of modern clothing and the links between fabric production, land and renewal. The brand says the work builds on experiments with natural dyes, including mud, clay and iron-rich rust.

Godfrey Katende, co-founder and head designer at IGC Fashion, said the project is meant to show bark cloth as more than a textile and to connect it with wider ecological cycles. He also said the showcase was a chance to introduce international audiences to new uses for the material and to highlight indigenous knowledge in contemporary fashion.

Sqoop Uganda said the collection was also part of Interwoven, an exhibition at Castlefield Gallery in Manchester from September 9 to 20. The broader context is growing scrutiny of fashion’s environmental impact, including resource use and waste, which gives the collection added relevance.