Kapurura holds a copy of Virgil Abloh’s book of quotes. Abloh is an American fashion designer and one of Kapurura’s biggest inspirations. Kapurura says Abloh, who passed in late 2020, combined a skating and street world style with that of high end brands like Louis Vuitton. To Kapurura, Abloh walked a path she hopes to follow.
Kapurura says, as a Black business owner, there were times when she didn’t feel comfortable taking up space. During quarantine, she began experimenting with unique and vibrant hair colors. “I feel like that was one of the ways I learned how to take up space,” she says. According to Kapurura, majoring in product design has also helped her realize she can exist within a non-conventional career path while remaining confident and finding success. 38 | ETHOS | SUMMER 2022
acquaintance with similar artistic interests, and proposed a collaboration: a one-time clothing line to raise money for local activism causes. Her proposal to Cobb was prompted by what she refers to as the “complete civil unrest” in 2020 as the Black Lives Matter Movement, Oregon wildfires and COVID-19 pandemic all coincided. It ignited a desire to use her skills to give back to her community. In the following weeks, the pair started designing a line of clothing. It didn’t take long for them to connect with Salem local and fellow fashion enthusiast Austin Herndon, who organized pop-ups — short-term shopping spaces curated by local vendors. Herndon invited them to participate as designers in an upcoming event. When the next pop-up rolled around, they showcased their designs under the name Philanthropy Phabrics for the first time. Vibrant African patchwork, line-drawn faces, hand-painted dragons and detailed distressing adorned the roughly 30 tops, pants and jackets they brought. They received overwhelming excitement and support in response to their clothing. They chatted with friends and family coming to support them throughout the day, took photos with
people purchasing items and accepted clothing drop-offs to be turned into custom pieces. By closing, over half of what they brought had sold. Realizing their potential, they agreed to take Philanthropy Phabrics and make it a business. “Realizing people were willing to look at the clothing and loved the clothing and saw the artistic value in it was the moment when I realized ‘Dang, we can keep doing this,’” Kapurura says. “It’s possible.” Kapurura and Cobb form a perfectly balanced team, preferring different but complementary mediums. Cobb creates with vibrant colors and intricately painted designs inspired by Colombian fashion. Kapurura utilizes African patchwork, repetitive patterns and line drawings. More remarkable than that, she brings love and joy into each piece she creates — something she says is a hallmark of Zimbabwean culture. Her work with the brand has helped her redefine what it means to be an artist. “Just the way that she sees things, the way that she creates, has been very inspiring for me,” says Cobb, a third-year business student at Oregon State University. Living in different cities, Kapurura and Cobb work independently on many of their SUMMER 2022 | ETHOS | 39
