Four Rwandan fashion brands; House of Tayo, Inzuki Designs, Moshions and Haute Baso on Sunday, August 2, saw their creations listed among top African fashion brands that feature on American singer Beyoncé Knowles’ website.
The website, beyonce.com, features over a hundred of African fashion houses as part of the singer’s initiative to help strengthen small businesses and to ensure economic empowerment for Black-owned businesses, especially in the creative industry.
The initiative is a partnership between the American pop singer, BeyGOOD and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an American civil rights organization that serves as an interracial endeavour to advance justice for African American.
Most of the designers that The New Times spoke to said that no application was made to feature on the platform, but their creations were recommended by their customers and renowned fashion figures in Africa and beyond.
House of Tayo incorporates African heritage with a contemporary touch to create unique styles. Net.
Designer Moses Turahirwa described having his Moshions brand on the platform as a huge boost for his business as he looks set to use the opportunity to push it to reach a bigger population from different parts of the globe.
"Beyoncé has always shown interest in supporting African-owned businesses, especially the creative industry and I am of course happy to be among the businesses going to benefit from her initiative. I believe her platform will give a bigger exposure for our brands to a bigger audience worldwide,” Turahirwa said in a telephone interview.
"It’s a big boost for our businesses. It a proof to the world that Rwanda’s fashion designers can do great fashion designs. Hopefully the number of our customers will grow as a result,” he added.
Inzuki designs jewelleries and other accessories. Courtesy.
For Matthew Rugamba, the CEO of House of Tayo, having a stamp of approval of one of the biggest artists on the globe is truly humbling and believes the platform will help his Brand grow significantly.
"For so many years our work in the creative industry has been undervalued and underappreciated but we have continued to create and push boundaries. For our work to be part of a celebration of blackness and black creativity makes the moment even more powerful for me,” he said.
The move to support black-owned small businesses comes just a few days after Beyonce premiered and released globally her new musical film and visual album Black Is King on July 31, just one year after the release of Disney’s ‘The Lion King.’