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Big, bold ideas. Future changemakers. Thrilling recommendations. This is the Sunday read youâll find nowhere else. Oct 09, 2022 Sunday When overzealous reporters ask celebrities at red carpet events, âWho are you wearing?â Rwandan fashion designers are not accustomed to hearing their names in response. But that changed in 2018 when Peter Junior Nyongâo, brother of Oscar winner Lupita Nyongâo, attended the world premiere of âBlack Pantherâ in a three-piece suit designed by Kigali-based designer Matthew âTayoâ Rugamba of [House of Tayo](. Rwandaâs fashion scene is having a moment, with two culturally inspired brands that fuse traditional themes with contemporary concepts. â with reporting by Rachel Garuka from Kigali, Rwanda
Two designers, one dream Matthew âTayoâ Rugamba Growing up, Rugamba was mostly interested in football, not fashion. Born in London in 1989, he lived in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Swaziland and the U.S.A., and was encouraged to be interested in the arts as he was growing up. This was a good thing because his ideal career path âevolved every couple of years,â he told OZY. Rugamba had a few brushes with fashion, including designing T-shirts, before launching his design company in 2011. âIâm typically a quiet person, so I have always expressed myself through what I wear,â he explained. Rugambaâs âahaâ moment came when he was studying international relations at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he was exposed to ill-informed views about Africa. âI realized that the way to change those stereotypes wasnât necessarily through debates; we need the arts,â he says. He wondered how fashion could help shift perspectives by exposing people to a different culture and way of life â so he started playing with fabric. Rugamba, who looks up to designers Ozwald Boateng and Ralph Lauren, returned to Rwanda after completing his undergraduate degree to grow his design business. âI wanted to give another perspective of Africa, one that I felt wasnât being portrayed in the media at the time. I felt like fashion would be a great vessel for me to express what I see when I think of Africa â Rwanda in particular â and focus on images that showed a dignified continent, and also pinpoint all the things that I saw growing up,â Rugamba said. He opened his shop, House of Tayo (âTayoâ is a shortened version of âMatayo,â which means âMatthewâ) in the Kigali suburb of Gacuriro, in 2011. The brand specializes in menswear, with distinctively African print themed outfits, mostly suits and casual shirts and trousers in bold, unconventional colors. The fashion house is also popular for its âkitengeâ (colorful pieces of fabric with a variety of patterns and designs), themed bow ties and infinity scarves. Moses Twahirwa Moses Twahirwa, 31, also didnât grow up dreaming of being a fashion designer. He preferred the idea of being a journalist or TV presenter. However, his upbringing in Nyamasheke, a district of Rwanda, must have rubbed off. As a child, he watched his mother and aunts weave banana leaves, embroider tablecloths and make decorative wicker pieces for their homes. In secondary school he cultivated an interest in design, starting with decorating spaces for school events. âMy classmates were also mainly from the city where it is more vibrant â they introduced me to fashion and some of the designers out there,â Twahirwa told OZY. Seeing a connection to what he was already doing, he started learning about brands, modeling and photography, and eventually trained as a model. Twahirwa began establishing a small portfolio and trained with designers in Rwanda, Nigeria and France. He wasnât a skilled sewer, so he spent time watching tailors as they sketched designs and made garments, learning from them for a few months before going to Italy and earning a Master in Collection Design degree. In 2015, Twahirwa launched his company [Moshions]( (combining âMosesâ + âfashionâ), with designs inspired by the patterns and textures of his childhood, particularly âimigongo,â a traditional [art form in Rwanda]( that uses spiral and geometric designs. âI wanted to epitomize those patterns even more by adding them to clothing and design,â Twahirwa says. âSo I tried to use different manipulations too to see how I could interpret it better.â Moshionsâ designs have since been worn by Rwandaâs First Family, First Lady of Namibia Monica Geingos, Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, retired football star Didier Drogba, and many others. But itâs been far from a smooth journey. âWeâve faced many challenges, like changing the mindset of people who donât understand what art or fashion is, especially when launching a collection, or regarding price,â Twahirwa says. âPeople tend to ignore the soul and heart behind the creation, and just see clothing.â
Big breaks From Kigali to Hollywood - The outfit that changed everything Rugamba says his initial hurdles were gaining respect for the business and industry as a whole. âThose were the hardest moments by far because we were putting so much work and effort into doing something and too many people were belittling it.â He recalls being dismissed by the banks who didnât understand why a tailor wanted a POS machine. There were issues with funding, too â something Rugamba chalks up to a lack of understanding of the industry and doubts about growth potential. When âBlack Pantherâ premiered in 2018, it was a huge moment in film; the movie went on to gross $1.3 billion worldwide. It also provided a breakout moment for Rugamba: Peter Junior Nyongâo escorted his sister, Lupita, to the movieâs premiere clad in a [three-piece suit]( â with black contrast lapels, wax print lining and embroidered elbow patches â made by House of Tayo. It was a carefully orchestrated moment. People had been responding favorably to House of Tayoâs clothes but they just werenât buying them, Rugamba recalled, so the company needed to find âways to elevate our brand for people to see its value.â The answer: Dress a celeb for an event like a movie premiere. After reaching out to several people, they eventually got through to Nyongâo. âHe was really excited about it. We had that suit done in two-and-a-half days,â Rugamba says. When Nyongâo appeared on the red carpet in a House of Tayo design, few knew that the outfit had been made and shipped all the way from Kigali. When Lupita posted pictures, captioned with the story of what went into making the suit, House of Tayo suddenly found itself in an unfamiliar but exciting place. âWe gained a lot of respect and thatâs what we needed, because when you donât have respect as a business or industry, itâs really tough,â Rugamba says. Onwards and upwards These days in Kigali youâll spot House of Tayoâs popular sports jersey almost everywhere: Known as âijezi,â itâs black with imigongo patterns in the colors of Rwandaâs national flag, green and yellow. Its launch coincided with the companyâs 10-year anniversary. âIt was a very important milestone; it combined my love for football, Rwanda and fashion,â Rugamba says. It has also caught the eye of some prominent U.S. sports celebs, including Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and NBA stars Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics), all of whom have been spotted wearing an ijezi. Moshionsâ spotlight moment came in 2017, when they launched their âIntsinzi'' collection at Camp Kigali, a former Rwandan military base in Kigali, with [Collective RW,]( an organization founded in 2015 by a small group of local designers. The collection consisted of blue, gray and black matching shirts and trousers bearing local prints, and the âumwiteroâ robe (cloth worn over the shoulder and attached at the left side with a glass-beaded clasp). Twahirwaâs designs often pay tribute to traditional dress. âI think this is the moment and collection that gave me more visibility. We had hand paintings on bomber jackets and caps. Some pieces had local patterns that Rwandans could relate to as they had probably seen them on decorative pieces but never on clothing,â Twahirwa says. Twahirwa describes Moshions as a new era of slow, thoughtful fashion. This was evident in his recently unveiled Spring/Summer 2023 collection of printed patterns and coloring techniques like tie-dye and draping â similar to Rwandaâs own traditional attire, the âumushananaâ â combined with Italian influences, like sartorial cuts. âI spent a lot of time in Florence and learnt a lot there, it sparked my creative instinct, and changed my line of thought through observing the original work of Italians and their use of fabric and color,â Twahirwa says. Walking into Moshionsâ generously lit space in Kiyovu, a Kigali suburb, various eye-catching pieces are on display â like oversized cardigans in bold colors with striking imigongo patterns, shirts with matching flared bottoms (as seen in Twahirwaâs own way of dressing), and loosely fitting summer dresses.
WATCH KIMORA LEE SIMMONS on [The Carlos Watson Show](! The future Moshions and House of Tayo made further impact when their creations were included as one of Africaâs top fashion brands on [Beyoncé Knowlesâ website]( in August 2020. In an [article]( published in Africa24, Twahirwa is quoted as saying the platform was a huge boost for his business and that he was looking to use the opportunity to reach more people around the globe. Moniah Uwimbabazi â a Rwandan fashion enthusiast, fashion promoter and events organizer â has watched the careers of the two Rwandan fashion designers from the beginning. Turahirwaâs âjourney has been incredible and has inspired many,â Uwimbabazi tells OZY. She commends Turahirwa and Rugamba for their ânever give upâ attitude. âThey represent Rwanda to the world. With their unique creations inspired by Rwandan culture, the two are raising the Rwandan flag high and their brands need no introduction on the international market any longer,â she adds. Rugamba believes global fashion is undergoing a revolution, but that the direction is not clear. âIt is really important for our industry to innovate,â and one way to do this is by creating custom prints, he says. He sees collaboration in House of Tayoâs future, something that is more possible with an established brand identity. That could be âanother clothing brand, maybe shoes, sports or even a coffee company.â And where does Twahirwa see Moshions in the future? âEverywhere,â he says. Today, Moshions receives orders from many corners of the[world](, mostly North America, Asia and Europe. âWe have many designers coming up who are aggressive with their creativity and want to put something out. It is important that we do not go too fast. In fashion, you have to really dig deep. You need supporting elements and this has to come from within â your core â with a real story behind your clothing,â Twahirwa says. Do you have a favorite budding fashion designer â a bright new talent that hasnât seen the spotlight yet? Share your story with us and we might cover it next. [SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS]( Want to get the drop on the new and the next? Starting 10/10, OZYâs Daily Dose becomes The Drop. New Name. New Look. Bold Content. ABOUT OZY OZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on âthe New and the Next.â OZY creates space for fresh perspectives, and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. [www.ozy.com]( / #OZY Curiosity. Enthusiasm. Action. Thatâs OZY!
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