HER ultimate dream is to grace the New York fashion industry. Sonia Mugabo has just come back from U.S, where she completed her studies before establishing a fashion brand called Afrikana Exquisiteness with her partner Candy Basomingera.Mugabo lost several relatives during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi when she was only four years old. She talked to The New Times’ Joseph Oindo about her passion. Excerpts below;Q: Who is Sonia Mugabo?A: I was born in Kigali 23 years ago. I lived here for 17 years before moving to United States for studies. As a girl growing up in Rwanda, my parents thought I would be a civil engineer or an architect since I had profound passion for Sciences and Maths. But that was just my alter ego since my love for arts was just too overwhelming. At University in the U.S I studied Visual Communication and Graphic Design which I was passionate about.Q: When did you discover your passion for fashion?A: When I was a little girl. I remember each time my mother took us for shopping, I would mix and match outfits and come out with fashionable styles.In high school, I got more exposed to the fashion world: reading fashion magazines and being influenced by different fashion icons. Q: How did living in U.S influence your zeal to be a fashion designer?A: Moving to the United States and being exposed to all kinds of design influenced me to major in Visual Communication and Graphic Design. I had two amazing internships in the U.S, one with Immaculee Ilibagiza, an award-winning New York bestseller author and another one with Teen Vogue, the leading fashion magazine for teenagers. There, I met incredible authors who reaffirmed my commitment to do fashion.Q: Apart from fashion and graphic design, what else do you do?A: I’m passionate about writing and right now, I’m working on a book about Sonia Mugabo, her life that would inspire other people. I’m good in poetry and I’m also working hard to complete an anthology which I started writing sometimes ago. Q: How do you to juggle all these?A: When you are passionate about something, you just manage to do something. Most of the times, I sleep late and wake up early.Q: Do you use your creativity as a catharsis to release bottled-up feelings of losing your relatives during the genocide?A: I have not let the Genocide define me in any way. Actually, it has shaped me as a person. I have had Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and I can unequivocally say that the book I’m writing is a sort of therapy. But graphic and fashion designs are my passion that I cannot relate in any way to effects of genocide on me.Q: Which challenges have you faced in fashion design?A: While in Rwanda, I became aware that the country’s fashion industry wasn’t something to talk about then and it was discouraging. However, when I moved to the US, I travelled a lot to New York; the capital of fashion industry, and my passion was rekindled. It’s every girl’s dream to make it there. But it’s not easy making a breakthrough in fashion design there, especially when you are still a rookie. I had to decide whether to stay in New York and struggle or come back to my country and be part of its growing fashion industry. I chose the latter and this was the best decision I’ve made.Q: Why?A: I’m getting a lot of appreciation I couldn’t have got in New York. I have been featured in renowned international newspapers like The Guardian and Germany’s Del Spiegel.Q: When did you establish Afrikana Exquisiteness?A: In college, it’s a requirement to have a senior show before graduation and this was the name of my show. When I came back to Rwanda in August this year and wanted to establish my fashion design shop, I decided to name it that.In September, I heard about Kigali Fashion Week and since I had just started my brand, I thought this would be a great opportunity to have exposure and visibility. This was an amazing experience. It was good to discover that fashion, and by extension creative arts industries are growing very fast here in Rwanda and in future, many Rwanda designers, including me, would be part of New York’s fabled fashion industry.Q: What’s your style?A: I’m influenced by universal symbolism and simplicity. I have two styles of designing, one by challenging myself not to go over the top in order to portray my reserved side yet keeping a sophisticated accent and another style of using bold colours and structures to emphasise on my fashion obsession.Q: Who do you admire in fashion design?A: When it comes to people who influence me, it varies from Anna Wintour to Victoria Beckham to Stella McCartney. What has particularly influenced me about these women is how they all have a great sense of style and their understanding about the fashion industry. Each of their charisma is outstanding and their independence is hard not to notice. In a sense, I can relate with their fashion tastes and characteristics.Q: Family?A: I have my parents and three older siblings and they all live here in Kigali.