At the abattoir where she once worked, the end of each day followed a predictable sequence. Carcasses were cleared, floors washed down, and horn, leather and bone gathered into piles for disposal as waste.
The materials accumulated in plain sight, treated as the inevitable residue of a functioning slaughter system. For years, Anyango Omondi moved through that environment without interrogating its finality. What remained after processing was regarded as the terminal stage of output.
Within Nairobi's informal scrap networks, she encountered a parallel ecosystem built on the recovery, resale, and reprocessing of materials largely excluded from formal industrial accounting. This exposure informed the establishment of Zanta Adeyde in 2015, an award-winning Kenyan Afro-luxury fashion and lifestyle brand that transforms animal by-products into jewellery and leather goods crafted from bone, reclaimed brass, beads, and locally sourced stone.
Joan Jelagat (left), Victoria Omondi and Jane Ntinyari Kinoti embroider hats at the Zanta Adeyde shop in Kibra, Nairobi, on August 14, 2024.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
During its formative years, the enterprise faced uncertainty over whether discarded materials could support consistent, commercially viable production.
"I was working with what was available at the time, closely assessing whether the materials at hand demonstrated sufficient continuity in composition, integrity, and quality to support repeatable processes over time," she says.
With Sh25,000 in savings as her starting capital, she sourced raw materials, acquired basic production tools and equipment, developed product prototypes, invested in branding and packaging, and covered essential business registration and initial operational costs. The venture, she adds, was shaped by persistent sourcing uncertainty and an untested premise that discarded materials drawn from fragmented informal supply chains could be stabilised into consistent, commercially viable output.
Initially, the enterprise operated within supply streams outside structured industrial procurement systems, with inputs sourced from abattoirs, scrap dealers, and informal collectors within the meat-processing and metalworking value chains.
“Supply was inherently uneven and largely contingent on slaughter volumes, prevailing market activity and informal collection cycles. There were no fixed delivery schedules, and material availability fluctuated from week to week,” she explains.
This volatility influenced planning more than demand forecasts. During periods of surplus, materials were stockpiled and processed in batches, while lean cycles required scaled-down output in line with available inputs. Today, Zanta Adeyde has secured a more dependable supply of raw materials through partnerships with local abattoirs and women-led gemstone mining enterprises in Kenya that supply ethically sourced stones.
These arrangements, she notes, have improved input continuity and reduced sourcing uncertainty. At her workshop in Kibera, Ms Omondi works closely with women and young artisans from this community, combining enterprise development with skills transfer and income-generating opportunities.
The enterprise currently supports between 50 and 100 livelihoods across its value chain, including direct employees, a wider network of artisans, suppliers, and service providers.
Labour is organised according to skill level and production processes rather than conventional job designations, where new recruits begin with material sorting and preparation before progressing to technical functions such as cutting, stitching, polishing, and assembly.
Zanta Adeyde founder, Anyango Adeyde displays an embroidered hat at her shop in Kibra, Nairobi, on August 14, 2024.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
"We train young people in jewellery-making and leather craftsmanship, enabling them to take on increasingly specialised responsibilities as their skills develop," she says.
Production activities are allocated according to technical expertise rather than formal organisational structures. Functions are distributed across leatherwork, jewellery finishing, final assembly, and quality control, while residual materials are repurposed into smaller accessories and secondary product lines to minimise waste. Finished products are then displayed and sold at the store in Village Market's Old Wing, which also showcases like-minded eco-conscious brands from across Africa.
“The work teaches you through exposure. You move from handling materials to understanding how they behave, how they can be shaped and where their limitations lie. Over time, artisans develop the judgement required to transform raw inputs into finished products,” she says.
Inspired by the age-old practice of adorning accessories that tell stories intertwined with nature, each piece is handcrafted. The workshop operates without mechanised production lines, relying entirely on non-industrial methods that prioritise manual skill and material responsiveness. Timelines vary significantly, ranging from a few hours to several days, depending on material properties, design complexity and finishing requirements.
“This variability is inherent to a system in which output is determined by the physical characteristics of raw inputs rather than standardised industrial processes,” she says.
The process is material-led, beginning with horn, bone, leather, brass and stone in raw form and progressing through cutting, shaping and refinement before final assembly. Each input carries distinct handling requirements determined by density, structural integrity and durability, which influence labour intensity at each stage.
Some of the designs made by Zanta Adeyde at the workshop in Kibera on July 04, 2026.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
Ms Omondi notes that no component enters the workshop in finished form, with all inputs fully transformed through manual intervention. Jewellery items combine bone, brass and gemstones into composite designs with variations in texture and weight driven by design specifications and material composition.
Leather goods, including handbags and travel accessories, are produced from upcycled hides, with output guided by availability rather than fixed seasonal cycles. The enterprise also serves institutional clients with customised orders, where volumes and specifications vary, and schedules are adjusted accordingly. Across all categories, retail prices range from Sh3,000 to Sh50,000.
“Pricing is influenced primarily by labour intensity rather than raw material cost. Multi-stage finishing processes extend timelines and affect delivery schedules, particularly for bulk institutional orders,” she explains.
Resource-efficiency measures extend to packaging, with recyclable materials used as part of wider sustainability practices.
Demand is segmented across domestic and external markets, with local orders providing a stable base of repeat clients while external demand emerges through design commissions, exhibitions and referral networks, including growing interest from international buyers.
External clients operate within higher specification frameworks, particularly in relation to material traceability and production documentation, which introduces compliance requirements within a manual fabrication environment.
Some of the bags made by Zanta Adeyde in Kibra on July 4, 2026.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
“There is interest from buyers who want clarity on where materials come from and how they are handled,” she says.
International engagement remains structured but non-continuous, with inquiries emerging through design platforms, curated exhibitions and export-oriented retail channels, where orders are largely bespoke.
The enterprise has received several industry recognitions and has been showcased in curated exhibitions across Milan, London, Paris, Switzerland, South Africa and the United States, extending its presence within international design and craft markets.
Growth has remained incremental and is linked to product diversification, with new product lines introduced in response to material suitability and available capacity.
“Retail and design partnerships continue to provide additional distribution channels, particularly for export-oriented products,” she says.
From left: Joan Jelagat, Victoria Omondi, founder of Zanta Adeyde, Anyango Adeyde, and Jane Ntinyari Kinoti at Zanta Adeyde shop in Kibra, Nairobi on August 14, 2024 .
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
She adds that integration into structured international retail systems introduces timing, compliance and consistency requirements that must be managed within manual production cycles.
The operating structure prioritises small-batch production informed by material availability and artisan capacity, with variability in both inputs and skilled labour shaping output levels over time.
As a result, the enterprise measures expansion through workshop absorption capacity, with cycles adjusted in line with supply conditions and order requirements.
“We seek to redefine global luxury by advancing African sustainable design at the forefront of the industry, with emphasis on heritage preservation, environmental responsibility and social impact,” Ms Omondi says.
