Celebrity branding is fast catching
up in Kenya as entrepreneurs seek to boost sales.
The entry of TV personality Janet
Mbugua in the fashion business using her name as a brand in a clothing line
becomes the latest as Kenyans strive to increase sales in a cutthroat market.
Recently, KikoRomeo designed
menswear featuring the Kenya Sevens Rugby team with the trend expected to grow
as more entrepreneurs turn to celebrity marketing.
Globally, celebrities promote brands
through appearing in advertisements, attending public relations events or being
adopted as faces of fashion houses— and when Wambui Mukenyi reached out to Ms
Mbugua to help her come up with a collection targeting corporate women and
market them— it was a refreshing approach to the Kenyan fashion business.
Ms Mukenyi is the founder and head
designer of the fashion house that goes by her name Wambui Mukenyi or WM.
How her collection with Ms Mbugua, a
news anchor, called “The Janet Collection” is received by the Kenyan corporate
women will be a new experiment in the fashion market.
“I met Janet through fashion stylist
Annabel Onyango when she was looking for a gown to go to an event. Later on she
consulted me on several occasions in regards to her work clothes,” Ms Mukenyi
says.
Ms Mbugua suggested that they work
on a collection targeting working women between the ages of 25-35 who do not
want to wear the common suits sold in shops around town.
“We worked on the collection
together. She would suggest that a certain colour is nice, then I would try it
and see whether it worked,” says Ms Mukenyi.
Ms Mukenyi has only been in business
for two years and has released two collections of 20 plus clothes.
With the assistance of the Internet
particularly social media and her website wambuimukenyi.com, she has managed to
market her clothes to reach many customers.
She makes clothes with contemporary
African style which is chic and elegant with a bit of an edge.
Imagine, a Kitenge jacket with spiky
stiff shoulders or bright kitenge top with laces at the front and back to hold
it together over a white dress.
These are the clothes that featured
in her collection that targets customers who want “different” or “not common.”
For “The Janet Collection” she roped
in Ms Mbugua’s style to cater for the conservative corporate woman.
Ms Mukenyi says she does not want to
give young women the same old boring black and grey suits, but colour, clean
cuts and print.
“The key idea for this collection was simple
chic cuts, elegance and a little bit of colour for the corporate woman that
make her feel comfortable and also clothes that can be accessible to every
woman,” says the fashion designer.
The “Janet Collection” is a
ready–to-wear assortment of 20 pieces.
The prices range from Sh6,500 to
Sh7,500 and can be purchased through Ms Mukenyi’s website or her studio on the
second floor of Diamond Plaza, Highridge.
So when did her love for fashion
start?
“I have always been interested in
fashion since I was a child, but I did know I wanted to be a designer until I
started working as an assistant to a fashion designer,” she says.
Business sense
She worked for a fashion house for
two years before it closed down. As the personal assistant, she was keen on the
business side.
She says she learnt that one can be
creative but have no business sense which would lead to failure.
When she started out, her biggest
challenge was getting a proper team to actualise her designs into reality.
“So far, I have a proper team that
ensures production is of quality and makes the dress exactly how I have
sketched it,” she says.
If one wants to get into the
industry for the glamour and money only, it is not enough. There is a lot of
hard work that happens behind the scenes, she advises upcoming designers.
“You have to know what the market
needs and cater for it. I like being edgy and comfortable too,” she says.
Her work has appeared in fashion
pages in local publications and her blog fashionamirabits.blogspot.com has a
good following.
So what inspires her to go on each
day?
“It is beautiful to have a fabric, come up with a drawing
and see it coming to life into art,” she says.
MWIKALI LATI(KENYA)
mwikalilati@gmail.com
FASHION DESIGNERS TAKE IN CELEBRITIES TO BOOST SALES
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