House of Tayo, freedom for Africa

When we think about independence and freedom of Africa, we have in mind people like Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Nelson Mandela and other African giants. But what if we turned our eyes in a different corner, that of fashion…we might find ourselves on a road to newfound freedom. A road that would erase those masks of shame and years of slavery and cover us in colours of pride and resilience. So, I will ask you, do we have what it takes to achieve this freedom?

Meet Matthew Rugamba, a self-motivated, creative and pan-african fashion designer - the founder of the fashion house known as “House of Tayo”. House of Tayo is a men’s wear brand that celebrates African Heritage, iconography and history “Our brand aesthetics draws inspiration from different parts of the African continent including home in Rwanda” he says.

Matthew was born in London, where he lived for six years before moving to Uganda and finally moving back home to Rwanda. He pursued his university studies in the US, which somehow led him to his career “I came up with the idea about 10 years ago, I was still at University, it was mainly born out of frustration. I wanted to combat the western perception and narrative of Africa that existed” he declares. This business could have taken several directions, as the young entrepreneur mentioned, that he was already doing film and photography “I had my first suit tailored at eight for my holy communion, and it was out of necessity because there were not many stores from which to buy. I had to buy the fabric and watch the full process. I really got accustomed to tailors from the experience and I grew fond of them over the years” he states.

Looking good and wearing clothes to improve your social status or look is part of our society’s culture. Matthew describes fashion as an agency to express yourself “Even those who don’t think they are fashionable are still making a statement. Fashion is the most personal way of expressing yourself”.

Discovering his African identity has been important for Matthew “Part of my look and responsibility as an African is to claim back our heritage, to dignify what we have lost due to the disruptions of our systems and to change the negative narrative of Africa.... which has been my motivation for building the House of Tayo”.

You must be wondering, have we found our champion yet? Well, let us find out more.

The 31-year old Matthew, is sharp looking and rocks sublimely “Amasunzu '' an ancient Rwandan hairstyle, might I say how symbolic! During our discussion, I asked him what kind of boss he is, for which he replied: "I am a boss with empathy. I had no prior experience running a store, I learnt many things along the way myself, so there are things I cannot expect someone to be intuitive about.” In his early days, the young Matthew was looking for staff with experience but he realised that he will still need to teach them. That is when he decided to hire people with basic skills and a willingness to learn.

What he has accomplished in the past few years has a lot to do with working hard on his reputation “When you make a promise you have to deliver, put everything in your power to do so. It might cost you, but in the end someone else might hear about it and make a purchase due to that only. If things go wrong, try and communicate it to your client” he says.

More recently, the impressive Matthew has made big moves. He designed a suit for Lupita Nyongo’s brother for the Black Panther movie premiere and is currently featured on Beyoncé’s platform along with other major African fashion designers. This is not due to some social media hype or some magic trick, but doing a lot of background research. He began his quest by looking at the costume designers for the film, looking at their inspirations and although he would have loved to have his designs in the film, he decided to pursue dressing the cast for the premiere. He eventually searched for their stylists and through his networks he was able to present his work to Junior Nyong'o which he really liked. The suit was made in two days and was delivered a few hours before the premiere. This experience has been a learning curve for Matthew where he observed that to continue on the pyramid of success, putting time and care in the garments won’t be the only drivers for his triumph but growing his network and making strong reference points to match the public perception will.

When I asked about when he knows when a product is ready for the market he replied “Most of it comes from intuition, but intuition only comes with learning experience and dedicating more hours to your craft”.

You might be a young entrepreneur wanting to live your dream and pursue it like Matthew did but his advice resonates with his experience “While many entrepreneurial stories glamourize the idea of going all in, I believe it is important to establish some sort of safety net. There is no shame in having a 9-5 to fund your dreams. In fact I think it is very admirable and responsible” he addressed.

Like many other entrepreneurs, COVID-19 disrupted Matthew’s business. However, this did not discourage him but rather pressed him to look for new ways of catering to his clientele. To his surprise, people who still had income purchased his clothing instead of spending their revenue on things like trips or holidays. However harsh COVID-19 has been, one has to think about how favourable the ecosystem is....This is what Matthew had to address to young entrepreneurs: “The logistics are still costly but the main focus should be on reliability to deliver a product and preparedness for any situation”. The fashion business in Rwanda will thrive more if the entertainment business keeps growing “You can’t have fashion without entertainment, so the bigger the scene of entertainment the further fashion grows” he states.

Matthew continues to challenge the fashion industry. For example, he created clothing sizes that fit the Rwandan population instead of the regular European or American size standards which shows his true dedication. Through his journey as an entrepreneur, he has discovered himself and feels more responsibility which sometimes weighs on his shoulders. Matthew states: “The future of House of Tayo is through expansion, it would be a dream to have a House of Tayo Creative Studio that sells diverse products”.

With fashion designers like Matthew, Africa is the new lieu for fashion renaissance, a celebration of culture, a walk of pride, a birthplace for new identities, a change of narrative for the motherland and a freedom of expression.