About Us
Fabrics and the surface patterns on them have always fascinated Teresa Lubano and Francisca Odundo. We’ve always loved drawing, design, anything creative, textiles, and nature. Combine this with our fondness for motifs, specifically semiotics inspired by our motherland, Africa.
This piqued our interest and encouraged us to dive into designing our own fabrics. The need to express our passions led us to textile surface design as a medium through which we could showcase our work and share it with the world. It was spurred by a grant from AHSCE, who offered us a grant in 2022 because they believed in us and our dream. We took the plunge and began by launching a competition, inviting our future design partners to send us entries that could be featured on our newly designed website. We do, however, believe that the more the merrier. Great opportunities deserve to be shared. We went about actualizing their dream by launching a website that could accommodate other aspiring and established designers who shared our passion for patterns and textile design. This would provide opportunities for textile designers and creators to have a side hustle that embodied their love for beautiful relevant fabrics and African-inspired textiles while also earning an income.
Local fashion designers have long complained about the lack of Kenyan textiles designed using semiotics that are appreciated and understood by local fashion designers and the populace at large. Existing print lines that are appreciated and preferred by designers are printed in such large quantities that they become fashion industry uniforms. They have also frequently expressed a desire for textiles that are unique to them. Textiles that they will not see on the country’s streets. Textiles with limited edition printing. There has also been a push to use sustainable textiles in order to avoid environmental destruction. This has been especially difficult because the POD industry suppliers found in Kenya so far have primarily printed on synthetic fabrics. It is these challenges that UndaMeta seeks to address.
WHAT MAKES UNDAMETA DIFFERENT?
One of the pioneers of its kind in Africa, we have set out to design and produce custom fabrics and patterns that speak the language of designers. A fabric that speaks to designers’ hearts and can add vibrancy and intensity to their creations. Each of these textile prints would be made available to only a few other designers in order to avoid the creation becoming visually repetitive in their community. We would deliver this fabric to their doorstep, conveniently and affordably.
We faced a myriad of challenges along the way which stretched from how to attract designers to our website to finding producers for our textiles who were willing to rise to the occasion and meet our exacting standards and requirements.
We are pleased to inform you that having surmounted these challenges, we are launching a website for you, the fashion designer, the African textile print wearer, the fashion aficionado, where you can buy and sell both printed textiles and patterns for your use. The textiles will be POD (Print on Demand). This will further our cause of sustainability in the textile production industry, as we do not print what will not be sold. It will also ensure that you also get exactly what you order and want.
Our mission is twofold; one, to offer creatives the opportunity to express their creativity and get paid for it, and two, to enable customers to purchase beautiful, high-end African-inspired surface pattern design and printed fabrics. It is our endeavour that this website will serve your needs and that we will grow together, from strength to strength to contribute to the sustainability of both the African culture and the African environment.
You can tell a ripe corn by its look.
– African proverb
Our vision is to sustainably provide fashionable African-inspired surface pattern designs for the production of unique apparel. To keep costs low, we connect you directly to our independent creators, eliminating the middleman in our operations and shipping directly to you. As a result, our textile designers have a long-term opportunity to earn a living from their creative contributions. As much as possible, we intend to source fabrics from natural fibres.
The African Renaissance is here. It is time to shine a spotlight on our rich cultural heritage and creativity through fashion. Let’s “metameta”, shine!
Our Team
Teresa Lubano, Co-Founder, UndaMeta
Teresa is the Co-Founder at UndaMeta and leads the design and technology arm at the company. She is also the founding director at Nanjala Design and Shop Nanjala. Teresa has over 20 years of experience working in leading advertising agencies and has a wealth of experience in strategic creative leadership, design management, sustainable innovations in physical and digital outcomes. She has deep experiences and perspectives to utilize the unique mosaic of design influences that appeal to Africa’s multi-diverse needs, cultures and clientele.
In 2016, she was featured on Lionesses of Africa as ‘Top 25 Influential Women Entrepreneurs Who Are Helping Put Kenya on the Global Business Map’. Teresa also won first prize at the Ecommerce Story Pitch Contest 2020, organized by the International Trade Centre project, ecomConnect. She recently spearheaded the 2024 Kuonyesha Art Fund grant win by CivFund for UndaMeta. In 2023, her innovation, ‘Edible Grow Kit for Kids’ won a Silver at UNESCO’s: Future Designer International Innovation Design Awards and Science for SDGs Innovation Contest. Besides her passion for design, she is a botanical illustrator and loves nature.
Teresa holds a Master’s in Design and Bachelor of Arts degree in Design from the University of Nairobi, a diploma in IMIS(UK) and is a recipient of the Babson College, USA 2019 Launch and Grow- Kenya Women Entrepreneurs fellowship program.
Dr. Francisca Odundo, Co-Founder, UndaMeta
Dr. Francisca Odundo is a co-founder at UndaMeta, she leads the textiles production arm at the company. Her career as a Lecturer in tertiary institutions of education spans over 20 years with the vast majority of it at the Department of Art and Design at the University of Nairobi. Here, she had the privilege of teaching printmaking and textiles design for several years standing. She has a broad range of experiences in art and design education which involve links with foreign universities, such as the Beijing University of Technology, College of Art and Design in China and IED, Istituto Educazione di Design in Europe.
Dr. Francisca is a proponent of Design Thinking having undergone training in it. One such workshop was at the prestigious Aalto University, School of Business, International Design Business Management Industry Project, Helsinki, Finland. This was run in conjunction with C4DLab, and University of Nairobi, where she proceeded to design and institute a training programme on the same.
Dr. Odundo has also been honoured with being a Member of the College of Arms, Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice.
As part of her research, Dr. Odundo has published Journal articles, and Book chapters, given conference presentations and been involved in exhibitions.
Akello Odundo, Information Systems Engineer, UndaMeta
With a unique blend of technical and creative expertise, Akello brings a fresh perspective to UndaMeta. Holding an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering, Akello has a solid foundation in concept development, problem-solving and project management. This technical acumen is complemented by a Master of Arts in Design, which has honed her skills in aesthetics, user experience and innovative thinking.
As the Information Systems Engineer, Akello is responsible for overseeing and optimizing our digital infrastructure. This includes managing our e-commerce platform, ensuring seamless integration of our design and production systems, and enhancing our overall IT capabilities to support our growth and innovation.
Akello is passionate about leveraging technology to drive efficiency and creativity within the surface pattern industry. Her goal is to create a robust and user-friendly digital environment that empowers our team and delights our customers.
Outside of work, Akello enjoys exploring the intersection of technology and design. She stays updated with the latest trends in information systems through workshops and industry events.
UndaMeta and Sustainability
UndaMeta is committed to engaging in sustainability. In line with this, she is geared towards observing certain key points. She understands that it is a journey and will endeavour to institute these by installing production strategies that promote them. Some of the strategies will applied directly in-house and some through working with suppliers who as much as is possible adhere to sustainable practices in their production processes. These are outlined below.
Water consumption
Ecological impact
Product line efficiency
Green marketing
Social Equity
On Demand Manufacturing
Digital Printing
Reduced waste in manufacturing process
Ecommerce
Digital marketing
Supporting diversity and inclusion
UndaMeta Limited is funded by the African Hub for Sustainable Creative Economies and University of Nairobi.
