By Pauline Odhiambo

Artists and designers have drawn inspiration from nature for centuries, tapping into its beauty, diversity, and complexity to create works that resonate with audiences.

Ethiopian designer Ruth Girmay picked the Nile perch, a fish species native to Africa, as her muse, medium and message for the Africa Talent Leather Design Showcase 2024.

Her "Overfishing Bag", carved out of sustainable leather and meant to raise awareness about the existential threat to the Nile perch, fetched her the title of Most Commendable Designer at the Real Leather. Stay Different (RLSD) event in Addis Ababa from November 8 to 10.

In keeping with the showcase theme – "Redefining Fashion's Environmental Footprint" — Girmay's creation is as much about conservation as it is a reflection of the African leather industry's potential and the role of sustainable design in reshaping fashion.

"The 'O' shape of the handbag handle is carved to resemble the eye of the (Nile perch) fish, while the pleated body is similar to the spiny dorsal and tail fins," explains Girmay in a video posted on Instagram by RLSD.

Girmay's challenge was to use the aesthetics of design to drive home the message about overfishing being one of the primary factors that have caused the Nile perch population in African waters to plummet.

In conservation parlance, overfishing is the depletion of a fish species from a body of water faster than the natural replenishment rate.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which monitors over 500 marine species worldwide, estimates that almost 90% of global marine fish stocks are either overfished or fully exploited.