Silas Anditi’s journey into the world of fashion design started as a kid growing up in Nakuru, Kenya. 

He would get clothes that his parents bought him, take them to the tailor and instruct him to change the design to fit his taste. His love for fashion continued through school, and upon attaining his degree in business administration, swapped the world of corporate employment to pursue his dream.

On fashion design and school

My fashion design activities at school started with my school uniform. I went to a school where we were putting on blazers but I did not like the design. I would buy the material and take it to the tailor to design it for me. He would make something nice and fitted for me then take the badge off the original coat and put it on that.

Would he not get penalised for it?

No they actually found it nice and the school administration did not ask me about it. The most important thing is that the badge was on it and it was not looking funny. It was something well-fitted and looked just smart so I became a celebrity at school.

How about your parents?

Before they learnt that I had a talent for fashion in me it was bringing me some problems. They would punish me sometimes but I would still do it so it reached a time and they just left me alone. 

My parents wanted me to pass through school first. They always stressed it to me that I should love school first. I had to continue schooling but also continue with fashion design on the side.

At what point did you realize that fashion design is your destiny?

After school I took up formal employment first in the hotel industry and then later in the automotive industry in Nakuru. Even then I still did my fashion work for clients, but it reached a point where I felt something pushing me out of formal employment. 

That’s when fashion design became a full-time job for me.

What is fashion design to you?

Fashion design is all about creating something from your own mind. You get ideas from primary level and build it into something viable in terms of consumption. 

I do outfits of every kind. I look at personality. I look at someone then imagine what can suit that person. 

So it is spot, create, then produce. 

Fashion designers are driven by passion. You do what you love and that love is the fuel we thrive on.

Favorite materials:

I like to use African fabrics most of the time. Sometimes I blend different fabrics that I get from different countries, but mostly it’s African fabrics popularly known as kitengi.

Affiliation to Inema Art Center:

They have a program of women here doing some jewelry so they asked me to come teach them some few things because I also do jewelry. I came to give them a little knowledge on sewing and making garments to incorporate that with what they normally do. 

They came to know me through my fashion works. I started it in Kenya and came to find out if I can try it here because Rwanda has been growing well in terms of everything so when I came here and found the fashion industry growing I wanted to be part of that growth. 

The first Kigali Fashion Week in 2012 we came up as fashion designers from Kigali and others from Kenya and Uganda and this opened people’s eyes to the fact that Kigali can also host fashion shows. 

A fashion show is a glamorous event and for us that do it with passion we feel it’s something very intriguing.

State of fashion in Rwanda:

We fashion designers in Kigali have formed an organization whereby we’re governed by law and have a lawyer which makes us feel secure. Also the ministry of sports and culture has been helping us out in terms of how we can be able to get our fabrics at a good cost so that the business is sustainable.

Negotiations are still on between fashion designers and UTEXRWA to work out a partnership whereby we get the fabrics from them at a good cost so that it can be a win-win situation for them and for us.