NAIROBI, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Inside the four by four meters room in Kitengela, a suburb on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi, two electric sewing machines roared on Wednesday as they attached several pieces of clothes together.
On one of the machines, a young man of 25 years old was in control, joining several pieces of materials to make a pair of trouser for a customer.
And on the other, his colleague was busy attaching several pieces of fabrics to make a coat. The duo were in the race to meet a deadline for a group of six men, who would wear the outfits in a wedding in two weeks.
"We make each complete suit for 5,000 shillings (50 U.S. dollars)," said Moses Oduor, one of the tailors.
"The average cost of each trouser is 15 dollars that is if one buys the materials from us, while the rest covers the coat," he added.
The walls of their shop are littered with several outfits already completed for customers, from African shirts, commonly known as vitenge, to trousers, suits and women outfits, an indication of how popular the business is.
"We have a steady market and business has been growing despite rise in imports of secondhand and new clothes. I believe what makes us stand out are three things, first is our quality, second, the variety of designs we make and third, the materials we have, which give people an opportunity to choose," said Oduor.
All the textiles they use are labeled 'Made in China' and like many other tailoring shops in the capital, they source the fabrics from shops run by Indians at River Road, downtown Nairobi.
"We buy the varieties of fabrics sometimes in meters or in rolls at least once every two weeks or depending on demand. A 36-meter roll of material for men's trouser and coats currently goes for 40 dollars in the shops," said Oduor's business partner Wycliffe Otieno.
On the other hand, a five-meter pack of African attire fabrics, also 'Made in China' goes for between 20 dollars and 25 dollars depending on the designs.
"African attires are the most popular clothes people come for from our shop... Most of those who come for them are families, seeking to look unique in same design outfits," said Otieno, who has specialized in designing the outfits.
They sell a simple design African shirt at an average of 20 dollars if the material is theirs while with a pair of trouser, the attire goes for 35 dollars.
Theirs is a busy business, thanks to the various materials imported from China, with the duo starting work at about 8:30 am every day and closing shop at 10 pm.
As many other tailoring outlets in Nairobi, their main customers are the middle class, especially the office workers, a majority of who want to stand out from the crowd by putting on designed clothes.
For Florence Mwaka, a tailor in western Kenya who makes children clothes from Made in China textiles that she sources from shops in the lakeside city of Kisumu, the business has supported her for the last 25 years.
"I buy the materials in rolls of 36 meters at 20 dollars, measure and cut them into different clothes and join them for sell. This is what I have been doing for all my adult life and it has schooled my six children from primary to university," said Mwaka, a self-taught fashion designer who has four employees and sells the clothes in wholesale markets in the region, with a dozen of newborn outfits going for 10 dollars.
There is a huge market for fashion designers in Kenya despite the surge in imported clothes, according to Ernest Manuyo, a business management lecturer at Pioneer Institute in Nairobi.
"The middle class offer this market because they don't want to wear used clothes and they may find quality, ready-made new clothes expensive. Besides, they have unique taste, these are the people who are giving fashion designers and tailors big business," he noted, adding China is the biggest source of quality, affordable fabric.
