The African state of Malawi has recently made news headlines with pop star Madonna's visits to adopt infants.
But a British designer is also putting Malawi on the map, with her creative recycled fashion garments.
Across Africa, clothes donated to charities in the developed world are sold in markets.
It's a trade worth one billion dollars per annum globally, according to a 2005 Oxfam report.
The southern African nation of Malawi is no exception with second hand clothes markets a popular and relatively inexpensive source of clothing.
Now a Scottish fashion designer is recycling these garments into trendy outfits.
Mia Nisbet, a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, selects second hand clothes, or Kanjika, as they are known in Chichewa.
She sources the clothes from markets such as the Mbayani market in Blantyre, Malawi.
She then picks out African textiles to combine with the second hand clothes in her designs.
Nisbet was already working with recycled clothing while at University in Scotland.
She launched her line MIA by Mia Nisbet, after winning the 'Make Your Mark' fashion award for ethical design during London Fashion Week 2008.
The prize included being mentored by UK recycled fashion designers, Junky Styling, as well as receiving a start up business grant.
Nisbet says people don't realise the potential for recycling old clothes.
"There are so so many clothes out there that people have just discarded, and don't realise the potential they have to become something new and creative and fun and exciting," she says.
As well as the value of recycling, using clothing from different parts of the world unites cultures, says Nisbet. "The range is also very much about taking different elements of fashions from different cultures across the globe, and fusing them into the one garment. So I'm taking like for example from Africa the African print and mixing them with? Like what I'm doing here with T shirts that could be from America or from the UK," she says.
Nisbet's range is certified an ethical brand and she is part of the ethical fashion forum.
Nisbet is also working towards becoming a fair trade label.
This means ensuring workers are paid a fair wage, and that working conditions reach fair trade standards.
Tailor William Lupanda says tailors are poorly paid in Malawi and he would welcome improved wages. "I think the competition from cheap second hand clothes is affecting us. For this reason Mia's design concept is interesting, and we welcome her payments which are better than usual," he says.
Nisbet has achieved success marketing her range online via ethical branding websites and through stores in Los Angeles and London.
She is currently promoting her designs within Malawi.
This includes a fashion show in Blantyre, Malawi, which took place on 4 April.
Nisbet says each of her designs is unique, such as this sleeve dress. "This was silk shirts, and these are the sleeves. You can see the cuffs of the sleeves here - the buttons. And the chitenge fabrics - the African print - is added along the bottom and to the straps. So this is comprising of four sleeves, this dress. It's called the sleeve dress," she says.
One of the members of the public who enjoyed the show is Joseph Mfutso Bengo, whose wife is German.
He likes the mixing of European and African textiles. "It was a good effort at combining European and African cultures," he says of the show. "It's also great that she's using recycled materials, which seemed to really suit the girls. I hope there will be more shows like this here in Blantyre," he says.
Some members of the Malawi fashion industry feel Madonna's recent high profile visit can only boost local designers or labels like Mia's.
This includes designer Wachitutar Thombozi.
"Madonna is helping a lot. Malawi is not a very famous country. But Madonna's visits to adopt kids gives us publicity. I hope this includes my label Khalidwe Wear. It could also lead to more tourists coming."
In a chain process that begins with donations to charities in the north, designer Mia Nisbet is returning trendy garments to their source.
As well as making a fashion statement, hopefully a message of reuse and recycle will come through.
And with the media spotlight recently on Malawi again, designers like Mia Nisbet hope that the recycling message will find a global audience.
APTN