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Atieno Studio is a contemporary Kenyan fashion house founded by designer Bettydora Atieno Odhiambo and rooted in Nairobi’s evolving creative landscape. Built around hand crochet, natural fibres, and the knowledge passed down through generations of women makers, the label translates a familiar domestic craft into expressive garments and accessories for modern wardrobes. Its work is distinguished by tactile surfaces, open constructions, confident colour and silhouettes that often evoke the relaxed movement of resort dressing.
Rather than treating crochet as decorative detail, Atieno Studio places it at the centre of the design process. The fabric, shape and surface of each piece are created together, stitch by stitch. This gives the garments a sense of individuality that is difficult to reproduce through conventional industrial knitting or mass-manufacturing methods.
The result is a brand whose appeal lies not only in the finished object, but also in the visible presence of time, handwork and human skill.
The origins of Atieno Studio can be traced to Odhiambo’s childhood. She has explained that her mother taught her to crochet when she was ten years old. The practice became a personal refuge: an activity that encouraged patience, concentration and calm. During university, she began making crochet clothing as a side business, turning a skill learnt within the family into an early form of creative enterprise.
That connection between family knowledge and contemporary entrepreneurship remains central to the label. Odhiambo does not describe crochet simply as a production technique. She regards it as a language of heritage, bonding and community, one that carries the memory of the women through whom the skill has travelled.
Her early business operated as Atieno Yarns. The name appears in records for Creative DNA Kenya 4.0, where the enterprise was described as a Kenyan crochet brand producing ready-made and personalised fashion. The cohort began in November 2023 and was part of a British Council-supported programme delivered in partnership with Fashion Scout and Trio Media.
Creative DNA Kenya 4.0 brought together 20 early-stage fashion and accessories businesses for mentoring, workshops, market access activities, and business development. Its teaching covered subjects such as costing, pricing, cash management, brand identity, range planning, sales strategy and working effectively with artisans and tailors.
Odhiambo has credited her participation with introducing her more fully to the fashion industry and teaching her how to shape a brand. The experience marked an important stage in the evolution from a small crochet enterprise towards the more clearly defined identity now presented as Atieno Studio.
Atieno Studio’s official philosophy describes crochet as both a material and a language. Within the brand’s collections, it carries stories of women, making and knowledge passed through generations. Those foundations are not reproduced as nostalgia. Instead, they are reinterpreted through contemporary proportions, colour, texture and form.
This approach allows the studio to challenge older assumptions surrounding crochet. In many settings, the technique has been associated principally with household making, hobby craft or small decorative objects. Odhiambo’s work places it within a complete fashion vocabulary: dresses, skirts, tops, cardigans, swimwear, hats and sculptural bags.
Crochet also offers unusual design freedom. Because the textile is constructed manually, its density can change across a single garment. Open stitches can create transparency and ventilation, while tighter areas provide coverage and structure. Fringe introduces movement. Repeated squares, floral forms, and mesh structures can serve as both surface decoration and the architecture of the piece.
Atieno Studio’s aesthetic is shaped by the vibrancy and rhythm of Kenya. Odhiambo has spoken more specifically about the Kenyan coast, where she grew up, describing how its energy, colour palettes, motifs and atmosphere continue to inform her work. That influence can be felt in the brand’s warm-weather orientation and in garments that are playful, feminine and designed to move easily around the body.
The coastal reference is present without becoming costume. Rather than reproducing one literal symbol, the studio draws on memories of colour, sunlight, landscape and movement. These impressions emerge through openwork dresses, tactile separates and accessories that can be worn at a beach destination, festival, summer gathering or within an urban wardrobe.
Atieno Studio says it works with natural East African fibres and skilled women artisans, using time-intensive techniques to produce garments and accessories in limited quantities. Its stated values are craft, culture and intention: honouring technique, preserving and evolving identity, and creating with purpose rather than excess.
Cotton currently plays a significant role in the collection. Its breathability makes it particularly suitable for open crochet structures and warm-weather clothing. Odhiambo stated in April 2026 that the cotton used in her work came from neighbouring Uganda. She also spoke of an ambition to explore fibres such as cashmere and silk as the brand’s material vocabulary develops.
That distinction is important. Cashmere and silk represent areas of experimentation and future possibility rather than a confirmed replacement for cotton throughout the commercial range.
The brand’s emphasis on limited production also reflects the nature of the technique. A hand-crocheted garment cannot be understood in the same way as a rapidly produced machine-knit item. Its value is tied to the maker’s concentration, the number and complexity of stitches, the handling of the yarn, and the time required to build the final form.
Atieno Studio’s broader vision is to create systems that support artisans while expanding the international presence of African craftsmanship. This positions growth not as a departure from the handmade process, but as an attempt to give that process greater visibility, continuity and commercial relevance.
The present Atieno Studio catalogue demonstrates the breadth achievable through crochet.
The Eshter Shrug is made from breathable cotton in an open mesh construction. Fringe at the sleeves and hem adds movement, while its loose shape allows it to function as a light layer over simple separates, festival dressing or warm-weather outfits.
The Rose Dress takes a more delicate approach. It is a hand-crocheted cotton mini dress created with floral-inspired openwork. Its light, sheer construction places texture at the centre of the silhouette, making it suitable for expressive resort, evening and occasion styling.
Accessories offer a different demonstration of the medium’s structural possibilities. The Shell Bag is shaped into a folded half-circle and finished with sculptural brass ring handles and a cotton lining. Though made from a soft fibre, its construction gives it a defined, architectural profile.
The Nene Tote is designed with everyday utility in mind. Its name is presented by the brand as meaning “big” in Swahili. Made from natural cotton, it combines a black-and-white granny-square arrangement with locally sourced leather details and a canvas-lined interior. The spacious, structured design expands the studio’s vocabulary beyond occasion dressing into practical daily use.
Other pieces currently represented in the shop include the Joto Cardigan, Moto Shirt, Moto Skirt, Swan separates, Tamu Mini Dress, Brasil Bikini, Vusha Clutch and Zuri Maxi. Together, they present a developing lifestyle collection rather than a label confined to a single category of beachwear.
For Autumn/Winter 2026-27, the studio presents a collection built around contemporary silhouettes made through artisan crochet. The season suggests that the brand is seeking to broaden the technique beyond its natural association with summer, approaching crochet as a year-round design language.
Alongside its ready-to-wear shop, Atieno Studio operates a custom-order service. Customers may submit the type of item they require, together with information about colour, size, occasion and reference imagery. The studio reviews the request and aims to provide a personalised quotation, a production timeline, and address any design questions within two to three business days. Crafting begins after the design has been approved and a deposit paid.
The available custom categories include jackets, dresses, skirts, tops, trousers, bikini pieces and hats. This process preserves an element of dialogue between the wearer and the maker, allowing the finished piece to respond to a particular body, event or idea.
Custom work is especially compatible with crochet. Adjustments can be made through stitch counts, pattern placement, length, coverage and the density of the textile. The customer is therefore not simply choosing a colour or standard size, but participating in the development of an individually considered object.
Atieno Studio’s increasing international visibility is closely connected to the British Council’s Creative DNA network. Launched in Kenya in 2020, Creative DNA supports emerging African fashion designers through structured learning, market access, peer exchange and opportunities to strengthen sustainable business models. The initiative has trained more than 200 designers and fashion entrepreneurs and has expanded beyond Kenya to several other African countries.
In 2026, Odhiambo was selected for Creative DNA x Studio Smithfield, a cross-continental programme developed by the British Council, Paul Smith’s Foundation and Projekt. Six designers were chosen: Solome Asfaw, Renata Brenha, Chido Kaseke, Bettydora Odhiambo, Karoline Vitto and YAKU. The selection jury included representatives of the programme partners and external juror IB Kamara.
The initiative was designed as a peer-to-peer exchange rather than a one-directional mentorship scheme. Its focus includes sustainability, traditional craftsmanship, digital innovation, entrepreneurship and the sharing of knowledge between designers working in different markets and cultural contexts.
The first residency took place in Addis Ababa from 16 to 23 March 2026. Delivered locally with IceAddis, it combined studio visits, workshops, cultural immersion and conversations with members of Ethiopia’s fashion and textile community.
Among the programme’s most significant visits was Sabahar, an Ethiopian textile enterprise working with cotton and eri silk. The designers observed a production process involving spinning, dyeing, weaving, sewing and finishing, while Odhiambo experimented with drop-spindle spinning. The programme also included pattern cutting at Mafi Fashion Academy and Lab, a weaving activity at Hanu Bet, digital innovation discussions, and a storytelling workshop exploring how fashion can communicate cultural knowledge.
For Odhiambo, the experience encouraged reflection on how to communicate sustainability more visibly within her own practice. She also spoke of learning from fellow designers about international showrooms and of hoping to develop collaborative work during the programme’s London stage.
Atieno Studio is among the designers announced for Africa Fashion Week London 2026, where the brand is presented as a Nairobi-rooted label transforming crochet into bold, contemporary African resort wear. The official designer profile identifies Odhiambo as creative director and chief executive and highlights the brand’s work with women artisans, natural fibres and eco-conscious materials.
Africa Fashion Week London’s 2026 programme runs from 17 to 23 August under the theme “Design Beyond Borders.” The week includes industry discussions at the British Council’s London headquarters, runway events at 8 Northumberland Avenue and the introduction of Shop The Runway, a retail-focused showroom allowing audiences and industry visitors to view and purchase work from participating designers.
The British Council Creative DNA designers are scheduled to appear within the Next Gen Runway at 4 p.m. on 22 August. For Atieno Studio, the presentation offers more than the visibility of a catwalk. It places the brand within conversations about craftsmanship, cultural exchange, sustainable enterprise and the international future of African fashion.
Atieno Studio’s importance lies in the clarity of its chosen medium. Crochet is not used as an occasional motif or seasonal novelty. It is the foundation through which the brand considers femininity, memory, movement, material and community.
Odhiambo’s journey from learning alongside her mother to producing clothes during university, developing Atieno Yarns, and building the more expansive identity of Atieno Studio shows how inherited skill can become a contemporary fashion practice without losing its emotional origins.
The studio is still developing its collections, material experiments and international network. Yet its direction is already distinct. By combining patient handwork with confident silhouettes and a strong sense of place, Atieno Studio presents Kenyan crochet not as a remnant of the past, but as an adaptable and expressive language for fashion’s future.
Africa Fashion Week London. (2026, May 26). Atieno Studio.
Africa Fashion Week London. (2026, June 26). AFWL2026 programme.
Atieno Studio. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
Atieno Studio. (n.d.). Custom works. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
Atieno Studio. (n.d.). Eshter Shrug. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
Atieno Studio. (n.d.). FW26/27 collection. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
Atieno Studio. (n.d.). Nene Tote. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
Atieno Studio. (n.d.). Rose Dress. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
Atieno Studio. (n.d.). Shell Bag. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
British Council. (n.d.). Creative DNA. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
Fashion Scout. (2023). Creative DNA: Kenya 4.0.
Fashion Scout. (n.d.). Atieno Yarns: Creative DNA Kenya 4.0 talent. Retrieved July 23, 2026.
Jennings, H. (2026, April 13). In Addis Ababa: Creative DNA x Studio Smithfield Ethiopia Residency. Nataal.
Paul Smith’s Foundation. (2026, February 2). Creative DNA x Studio Smithfield.
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