Situated in the Masasa industrial area in Harare, Chjaa is in the business of bringing designs and patterns to life by printing them on clothing items such as shirts, dresses as well as handbags, scarfs and other products. This is an industry that has stagnated in Zimbabwe because of the economic challenges that have moved production out of the country, but companies like Chjaa are bringing the industry back to life.
Globally, the textile printing market is going digital with the market projected to reach USD 311.7 million by the year 2028. Countries in the Asia-Pacific region have dominated this market for a while and it is exciting to see companies like Chjaa making inroads into the space and focusing creating afro-centric designs that aim to preserve our heritage and culture. Speaking to Celia the founder of the company she emphasized the need for customization of designs to meet the African context while at the same time ensuring sustainability by always remaining in tune with environmental concerns.
The company was born in 2017 after Celia and her mother partnered to by the factory when it was put up for sale by someone who had operated it for over 20 years. Prior to this, Celia had worked in Nigeria doing finance work, but she always had a passion for fashion especially authentic African wear and designs. This passion was driven by her exposure to fashion during her modelling career. Even though she never pictured herself operating in this space, Celia Rukato, the chief executive of Chjaa, is succeeding in creating a platform to showcase her designs, clothing, handbags and other products to a wider market in Zimbabwe, Africa and the rest of the world.
I have always been interested in fashion, but I grew up enjoying economics and figures at school. My first job was in Lagos where I was working as a junior research analyst at an asset management firm and after that I worked with the United Nations under their regional integration and trade entity.
Her work environment in Lagos and the UN exposed her to fashion during the various events she attended and in 2016 when she decided to return to Zimbabwe she had made up her mind that she wanted the next stage of her life to focus on making clothes for the African market. The excitement she felt at the thought of that vision inspired the name of the company.
Chjaa is an expression of joy and happiness. It’s a made up word. It’s a term that we coined ourselves together with my mother, who is also my business partner. When you are excited about something, you say chjaa! That is the feeling we are selling.
The other major driver of Celia’s foray into fashion was her mother who has always been a fashion designer and only wears clothes that she designs herself. She has also learnt a lot from her mother, who has instilled in her a culture of discipline, hard work and following through on the promises you make to yourself and those you make to others.
My mother was born in the Zaka area of Masvingo in 1967 during Zimbabwe’s war of liberation. It was a difficult time for her but she was resilient. We moved to South Africa while she was working in the environment space. She rose through the ranks and became the deputy CEO of NEPAD.
Their factory is bustling with activity and has become a creative hub where beautiful designs are printed on fabrics, which are then either woven into shirts and others clothing items or crafted by hand into durable accessories such as handbags. With five full time employees under its wing, the company also employs a total of 15 part time workers whenever their work involves delivering on bulk orders. These are highly skilled employees with a lot of experience as some of them have been in the industry for over 20 years.
Showcasing African designs
Chjaa’s designs are distinctly African – in terms of the origination and the designs as well as the fabrics, clothes or other material upon which the patterns are printed on. Celia said focusing on African creations has given her a platform to celebrate her own culture, her challenges and successes with everyone who identifies with the continent and even those from outside Africa.
We are focusing more on African prints. We start with the graphic design and then we proceed to make the artwork. We then use paint and dye to recreate the pattern that we want on a fabric. It is in the darkroom that we show the world that there is light through our creations.
Chjaa’s customers range from several churches and non-governmental organizations to random people from various walks of life who appreciate quality and durable African wear and authentic designs.
You don’t really know when you’re wearing a church fabric or when you buy a church fabric, where is it coming from. A lot of them we print here.
We also have over 40 designs of our own, that we’ve come up with that we sell and make products from, but we are now also offering the service to other people that are in a situation where they’ve got an idea for what they want to print and if it’s not something that’s on the market. We do it for them.
Celia explained that unbeknown to many people most of the cloths sold as African attire is made outside of Africa, in China, Netherlands and other European countries and then sold to African countries at exorbitant prices and through marketing techniques that mask the origin of the fabric.
And they actually study us as Africans. Every year they host a seminar where they say what colors are Africans going to be interested in next year and then that’s where we see those six yard fabrics. They would have been designed and manufactured in Europe and then sent here as African fabric. So when we’re wearing it, it’s not even African fabric that we’re wearing.
With textile companies like David Whitehead no longer fully operational, Chjaa has had to import some of their fabric from other countries. So the print is local and the fabrics are imported because poly cotton, for example, is widely preferred but not manufactured in Zimbabwe. And while most of the cotton is being woven by Kadoma Textiles, the fabrics from that company are mainly for the export market and this means that Chjaa and other companies in their sector have to rely on imports.
I think that’s where the industry is because everything is highly dependent on imports. For our chemicals, we also import them and the biggest company that makes the chemicals that we use is a German company.
Asked how the company was managing to weave their way to success in the face of stiff competition from international brands that are bringing their products to Zimbabwe, Celia pointed out that their focus has always been identifying with the locals and convincing them that their brand is of a top quality. Their target is people that appreciate the African story and in terms of export, Celia is happy that there is also a huge demand outside the country and the company is eager to build ties with the many Zimbabweans that are living and working in the diaspora, people who are looking for things that are made in Zimbabwe and from local materials.
Chjaa has been very creative in their marketing their products using digital platforms to market their products. They are also constantly exploring more ways to showcase the activities of the company to as many people as possible. They also recently partnered with the Swiss Embassy and Alliance Francaise to further establish her footprint in the industry.
We’re going to give people the opportunity to be able to print by themselves and learn how to do textile printing. Alliance Francaise and the Swiss Embassy have also given us an opportunity for a three-week residential. We are going to host workshops on screen printing and teach people the process.
The company has also formed partnerships other entrepreneurs who are interested in importing and re-selling clothes with an African distinction and to stay competitive in the face of stiff competition from international companies, they have recently acquired machines that will improve her capacity to mass produce as this will enable her to grow the company. They are in the process of setting up the machines in line with their desire to leverage technology to cut production costs. However, they will continue making handmade products as there is a huge market for customers who like them.
Celia hopes that their creations will change the narratives for Africa, as she feels the continent is at a crossroads. Africa has become predominantly a consumer of international products and she strongly feels that Chjaa has a huge part to play in reversing such trends so that Africans end up mostly buying from other Africans.