Made jewellery, stunningly created designer accessories with an ecochic & Fair Trade edge.

made - by the people for the people.

by Marianne Nouwens

These dramatically unique and gorgeous products are designed by influential designers and hot guest celebs, sold at Topshop, Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

All made products are hand-made by local artisans in disadvantaged communities in East Africa using sustainable local resources. This is the made difference!

about made

made is about fabulous accessories

made is about empowering developing communities

made is there, from concept to completion

made is unique

These aren’t empty statements. They’re simple facts.

Made is not about naive idealism. And they doubt you are. Made is about producing gorgeously unique, high quality designer accessories for style-savvy shoppers. But in doing this they are able to radically improve the lives of impoverished communities in developing countries.

All made products are designed by influential designers, then sourced and created within disadvantaged communities across East Africa.

Following the principles of fair trade we train local artisans in new skills, providing fair wages and support at every level. Via this ‘trade not aid’ ethos we believe we can help break the cycle of poverty and empower the people who create our products.

The powerful concept behind made is the brainchild of Cristina Cisilino. Having spent many years in the world of fashion, Cristina’s love of Africa, coupled with her belief in trade not aid, led her to join forces with partner Gerson Barnett. Together they have created an accessories brand with a conscience.

Made Africa’s mission is to help alleviate poverty in Africa by creating opportunities through education and training projects. The charity firmly believes that ultimately poverty will only be eradicated through trade - And to create trade, disadvantaged individuals must have the opportunity to be educated and develop their skills. This in turn not only helps them to become self reliant but will also benefit the community.

“The charity’s objectives are to relieve poverty and financial hardship in Africa, focusing mainly on the provision of training and funding in Africa for fair-trade and self-help projects.”

The three areas that the charity focuses on are:

Giving children from disadvantage communities the opportunity to attend school.

Helping and promote vocational education to teenagers and young adults.

Offering small loans and grants to local small artisans so they can improve their business.

Made Africa currently works with various projects in and around Nairobi, Kenya. Some already established, others set up from scratch. All have a story to tell like… Bidii School. This school is situated in probably the largest slum in Africa. Kibera is located southwest of Nairobi city centre and is near double the size of London’s Hyde Park

Bidii School was started by a couple of volunteer teachers to help the children living in Kibera. Until recently the school, which has 120 children attending aged between 1 and 7 years old, operated from a single room. The majority of the children are orphans or come from zero income families. As you can imagine the space is very cramped and trying to teach so many children of different age groups at the same time was near to impossible.

Since 2009 Made Africa has made a long term commitment to Bidii School providing support such like a complete re-build and refurbishment of the school creating two class rooms, doubling it’s size, financial support, giving all children vaccinations and multi-vitamins and hot meals while the children are at school.