Name: From Gambia to Berlin: Sewing a sustainable future
Uploaded: 2025-10-31T17:08:01.116Z
Duration: 5 min 39 s
Description: Berlin-based designer Muhammed “Jim” Njie is known for his bold “Sahara” streetwear and has been called the “Louis Vuitton of the diaspora.” He turns recycled fibers into sustainable fashion and champions circular design.

Berlin-based designer Muhammed “Jim” Njie is known for his bold “Sahara” streetwear and has been called the “Louis Vuitton of the diaspora.” He turns recycled fibers into sustainable fashion and champions circular design.

Berlin

Mohamed Jimjay, originally from The Gambia and now based in Berlin, is a fashion designer focused on circular and sustainable fashion. After personal loss and migration, he found purpose in art and launched Sahara Designs, a brand inspired by resilience and environmental responsibility. 

Jimjay's creations use recycled materials and avoid mass production, with his designs dressing notable music stars and appearing in international publications. Supported by organizations like the Fashion Council Germany, he continues to advocate for circular fashion and aims to showcase his work at major fashion weeks.

From Gambia to Berlin: Sewing a sustainable future

I'm Mohamed Jimjay and I'm from The Gambia, based in Berlin now. I'm a fashion designer in circular and sustainable fashion. I believe circular fashion is the only way forward, unlike fast fashion. Mohamed is one of many young Africans who risk everything to succeed, but his story is one of grief and an unshakable desire to make it in life. He found healing and purpose through art, channeling his journey into his fashion brand, Sahara Designs. He named it after the desert that has become a symbol of peril and resilience for countless young migrants. When I was in The Gambia, I was going to school and I lost my best friend. And ever since he passed away is where I really lost interest in schooling and just wanted to go away. And I wanted something better for me and my family. If I just don't feel like going to the gym, I come here. Being here, working out, helps me too as a person, especially when I came new in Germany. By day, Mohamed teaches at a local kindergarten. But outside work, he's fully immersed in fashion, spending long hours developing new designs with his creative director. I just don't randomly do any art. The inspiration really comes from my grandmother. My grandmother used to sew a lot with her hands. I understand too, it's very important for us as humans to really take care of our environment too and not just produce and produce for the benefits of ourselves and looking nice, but also consider how it has a lot of negative effects to nature. Sustainability is what drives his mission. Sakhola Fashion encourages recycling used materials as opposed to the wear and tear logic. His limited creations can be found on his website for a limited time before they are sold out, all while avoiding waste. I don't do mass production. These are leftovers I have from the previous collection. I'm going to use the logos from the previous collection for the sake of recycling and attach them in the new item to the drawer. And the logo is actually a skull, basically telling how bad smoking is. I'm working on a collection called Resilience. The word itself is defined as overcoming any obstacle or struggles that comes your way and that's literally part of my story. And the vest is literally the armour you wear to tackle all these obstacles. Our attires, our materials, our textiles, so many messages behind them and they're fantastic, they're amazing, they look beautiful. And the used clothes I use is from here and it's just from around me. Today, Mohamed's work reaches far beyond Berlin. His designs have dressed some of the biggest music stars. Among them, Gisoul from The Gambia. He has worked with international icons like UK-based artist Pasaliw and some of those creations were featured on British Vogue. This was a confirmation of everything in life is possible. Literally everything. So, if I'm not in the atelier creating designs, I'm normally outside taking pictures of my designs because I'm a photographer too and a videographer. One thing I really dream of is showcasing my own collection or art on Berlin Fashion Week and any other fashion week that's in the world. This office here makes that happen for designers like Mohamed. The Fashion Council Germany supports emerging designers regardless of their background. Diverse talents are key to cementing the growth of the industry and the Diaspora Network is a valuable economic infrastructure. The Fashion Council Germany is the organizer behind Berlin Fashion Week and if you look at the EU policymakers when it comes to the circular fashion and textile programs that they're launching, Germany is one of the leading. The GDP that contributes from fashion is around 80 billion euros. So we have educational programs, we have supporting systems, we have networking platforms and one of our core target groups are emerging talent. As a person who is part of this minority group, it's just important to just show that we have a lot to give and help develop their countries in certain ways. And fashion designers and everyone in art doing clothing should really embrace circular fashion. While his art protests the irregular journey to Europe, Mohamed is still in the process of rediscovering himself. One thing is certain, his career in circular fashion is only just beginning.

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