Designer O'koko sources secondhand clothing and discarded textiles from Kantamanto (a secondhand clothing market in Accra, Ghana), redesigns them into garments and accessories, and shoots his work and videos at a secondhand clothing landfill in Ghana, using this to highlight the textile waste problem and promote circular fashion ideas.

Key Points

  • In 2023, one year after arriving in Ghana, O'koko and a friend first went to Kantamanto Market to buy stock and sell secondhand clothes; that first visit changed his view of fashion.
  • While shooting The Revival Earth, he entered a local landfill for the first time. The site was filled with the smell of burning textiles and plastic, and he said he could barely breathe that day.
  • His brand mainly focuses on recycled/secondhand materials, sourced from discarded clothing at Accra's Kantamanto Market, and he cites Ethiopian designer Kaluputic as one of his inspirations.

O'koko in One Report

I first noticed O'koko through Instagram's recommendation page. In the photos, he stood among piles of waste at a landfill in Ghana, wearing clothes I assumed he had made himself: tote bags sewn from many discarded bags, jackets pieced together from discarded shoe materials, shoulder bags converted from sneakers. He came to Ghana from Central Africa to study digital marketing, and only in recent years did he come to know this landfill and the problems it reveals about Western consumption and fast fashion. It was there, among discarded clothes that were not necessarily all "trash" and could have had a second life, that he realized he could use design to spread this issue.

I am a first-generation immigrant born in the United States, with parents from Ghana, so I feel a natural closeness to this, and I am proud of O'koko's work—that pride of seeing your own community create and grow. So I wanted to learn more about him. Below is our conversation about African creativity, waste colonialism, and how the fashion industry should change.

On Getting Started

In 2023, one year after arriving in Ghana, O'koko worked for several months at a construction site for low pay, barely enough to get by. With encouragement and help from a friend, he decided to start selling secondhand clothes. They went to Kantamanto Market to get stock, and that first visit completely changed his understanding of fashion. The sights he saw, the people he met, and the stories behind the clothes stayed with him. Looking back, that experience was the starting point of who he is today and of his identity as a designer.

In his view, Ghana's fashion scene is more developed and accessible, making it an ideal place for people from Central African countries such as the Central African Republic; Ghana is also known for affordable local prints and fabrics. He recalled that when he was a child, his mother and aunts often went to Benin, Togo, and Ghana to buy clothing fabrics, then brought them back to the Central African Republic to sell. Early on, the videos of blogger @futurist influenced the way he looked at fashion—editing, styling, and overall visual language; at the same time, Afrobeats artists such as Rema and Asake also influenced his creative direction and expression.

Discovering the Landfill and "Waste Colonialism"

O'koko discovered the landfill while shooting the The Revival Earth project. It was his first time there, and he was completely unprepared. The place was chaotic and oppressive, filled with the smell of burned textiles and plastic, and on the first day he could barely breathe. He had never imagined such a place existed, nor that so much discarded clothing could be concentrated in one place.

He explained that waste colonialism refers to an unequal global system: wealthier countries and industries produce large amounts of waste, especially clothing and plastic, and much of it is exported or ultimately flows into lower-income countries—countries with less power and fewer resources to deal with this waste. He first made videos at Kantamanto Market, then shifted to the landfill. Through his videos, he hopes to make people truly see what overconsumption has caused and to understand what the neglect of fashion waste may mean for the future.

Design Language and Process

O'koko describes his design style this way: raw, rebellious, youthful, heritage, craft, avant-garde, provocative, Afrocentric, upcycled, and luxury streetwear. His brand mainly uses recycled/secondhand materials, especially discarded clothing collected from Accra's Kantamanto Market, which he then redesigns or transforms into new garments and accessories. Among the African designers who inspire him today, he mentioned Ethiopia's Kaluputic—someone who turns waste into treasure.

As for his design process, he said he has recently tried drawing ideas on paper first, but usually once he has an idea he makes a sample first, then revises it as quickly as possible to reach the final product.

The Message He Wants to Convey, and His Views on the Industry

He hopes people will better understand the story behind the O'koko brand: transforming discarded textiles from Kantamanto Market into contemporary fashion and celebrating African creativity. The project should give people a deeper understanding of the value of textile waste and circular fashion, inspire conscious consumption, and prove that waste can also become luxury.

Speaking of how the industry needs to change, he believes the industry does not need to release millions of new clothes every season; brands should focus on durable, repairable pieces and remain transparent and responsible for the entire life cycle of their products. Designers need to think about circular fashion—how clothing can be easily repaired, reused, or recycled—and make creativity matter more than consumption.

For the future, O'koko's goal is to raise the brand's visibility, build meaningful industry relationships, and turn O'koko Fashion into a globally recognized sustainable fashion brand. As for the details, he said he wants to keep them secret for now, but believes there will be many surprises and good energy ahead.

Source: O'koko Reports From The Landfill In Ghana · Originally published on 2026-09-30