In 2021, Winnie Ahupa decided to move from just producing fashion items to producing fashion items with a big part in driving world sustainability. Despite the lack of belief from society in her craft and the struggles that come with this line of work, Winnie Ahupa is still consistently striving to achieve Sustainable Development Goals
Through it all, she has impacted Nigeria with her creativity, giving her a spot on The Big Showcase.
Getting An Insight Into World Of Sustainability
“It was quite rewarding, but I wasn’t fulfilled.”
Winnie Ahupa studied Computer Science and Technology at the university, after which she worked as a communication officer for a year and a half. Moving on from that job, she ran a brand for close to 5 years.
During the COVID lockdown, where millions of people were confined to their homes with a lot of time to think, Winnie Ahupa also got her meditation/thinking time. She had always wanted to be involved in fashion and loved that she was. But while it was rewarding, it wasn’t fulfilling.
The lockdown gave her space to think about her future and what she wanted to spend the rest of her life doing.”It helped me put things into perspective. I always loved fashion… but I felt I had to do more.”
Right after the COVID-19 lockdown, she stopped her business and decided to focus on fashion, household items and sustainability growth altogether. So while she still made fashionable items, they had to have a sustainable part in them.
She uses anything to create new products by channelling her creativity into seeing the different ways a non-biodegradable material can be made into fashion.
“I make old things look new. Things people consider as trash, I make them new or functional.”
Winnie Ahupa Aims To Sustain Nigeria Through Fashion
“My number one goal is to use design as an agent of social change.”
In Nigeria, climate change is a societal issue hardly talked about. Most people don’t care about it. Fashion helps social change. Then, Winnie Ahupa made a great point, “You wouldn’t be talking to me right now if my work didn’t make sense.”
Her work helps people question fashion and fashion sustainability. They ask questions about how her work is sustainable and how it is created. Sparking those questions and answering them helps drive awareness.
Everything recyclable goes into her work. She thinks of creative ways to recycle or upcycle, and she does that.Recycling might not be so hard in Nigeria. You could give “Aboki” and recycling plants your wares. However, people are unaware of this because she believes they don’t care.
Her Instagram page showcases some of her work, like earrings made with plastic bottles, bags made with nylons and so many other high-fashion accessories.
Because of her degree, Winnie Ahupa has a background in design. In addition to her creativity, devising new ways to use non-biodegradable materials isn’t too tricky.
Difficulties With Sustainability
There are short videos she posts which makes it look easy to create, but it takes a lot of time. Some ideas that don’t work out never make it to her page, so people don’t know about that either.