At Ghana’s Kokrobitey Institute, Sustainable Design Has Always Been the Focus

Thousands have been impacted by Neblett—affectionately called “Auntie Renée” by all—and Kokrobitey over the last three decades. The institute has hosted study-abroad students, entrepreneurs, and creatives who have attended learning programs, internships, residencies and incubations. Neblett also works with the residents of Kokrobite village, providing training and creating jobs.

The curriculum is expansive: Kokrobritey offers programs in fashion/textile, household product design, woodcraft, welding, glass recycling, jewelry making and beauty/skin-care product development, to name a few. One upcoming three-week course, to be held in January 2022, focuses on Textile Waste-Driven Design.

“We started to think about how we could make something and how we could employ people from that,” Neblett explains. “Because even though education is really important, it’s difficult to get people who are struggling every day to sit and listen to you, or engage in critical thinking if they can’t figure out how they’re going to make a living.”

The institute’s latest fashion collection is a manifestation of that point of view. In December, the Kokrobitey Institute design team will be launching the K.I. Design WOTE Collection 2021. Neblett led a team of six to create 30 vibrant gender-neutral pieces that fuse “African culture, the mother of modernity with its classic clean lines and love of color, with an urban energy.”