Did you know Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein clothes are made in Kenya?

A social media post of a mint green polo shirt by American fashion house Calvin Klein with a tag labelled ‘Made in Kenya’ has caused excitement among Kenyans online, leaving some puzzled that Kenya makes garments for leading fashion brands.

This is, after all, a country where knock-off ‘Calvni Kelni’ boxer shorts are not a rare sighting.

But Kenya indeed makes clothes for American fashion conglomerate Phillips-Van Heusen, which owns brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, as well as the wildly popular U.S. denim company Levi’s.

The manufacturing is done at the Athi River Export Processing Zone (EPZ) by a Sri Lankan company called Mas Intimates which began operations locally in 2020.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta officially launched the apparel and textile manufacturer’s operations in May 2022, noting that the company had until then employed over 3,000 Kenyans.

“While MAS began operations in Kenya in the year 2020, you have already injected over 8.5 million US dollars into our economy, employed over 3,000 Kenyans and shipped garments worth over 24 million US dollars which are affixed with the magical Made in Kenya tag,” Kenyatta said at the time.

Some of the products that MAS Kenya has produced so far include sweaters, joggers, jackets, hoodies, t-shirts and shorts.

In 2017, textile firms in the EPZs, which are exempted from paying taxes, held a wildly popular exhibition at the KICC in Nairobi which saw Kenyans get locally-made garments between Ksh.200 to Ksh.600.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the government temporarily allowed EPZs to sell all their products locally in a bid to cushion the economy in the wake of the sealing of borders by other countries to counter the spread of the virus.

This meant Kenyans could get items from top fashion brands at cheaper prices.

Currently, Mas Intimates’ global footprint spans over 17 countries. The company mainly exports its garments to the U.S. and Canada, as well as other parts of the world like Australia, Mexico and Japan.

On top of clothing manufacturing MAS Intimates Kenya also has in-house screen printing and embroidery services, and says it plans to increase its current employment numbers to 7,000 by 2025.