ALTHOUGH HIS BRAND is now one of the most popular in Rwanda, Moses Turahirwa says his dream has never been to become a fashion designer.

The designer last year earned himself a Master’s degree in collection design, even though prior to that, he never got career guidance and he had no role models to look up to at an early age, which is why he pursued other fields before realising what he was good at all along.

The genesis

Born in a family of two sisters and a brother, the technical construction university graduate says he grew up in an environment surrounded with beauty which inspires what he does.

"I used to pay attention to details from my mom’s hand embroidery, my uncle was also a tailor in the neighborhood, so I think everything has a source,” he said.

According to Moses, the year 2015 marked the birth of a brand that was going to change many people’s lives, he says before he registered Moshions he had started earlier in school, to research about fashion, like learning about brands, modeling, photography, writing.

Turahirwa says there is high growth of luxury products in Rwanda because Rwanda is home for luxury stuff, and that people in Rwanda should recognise what luxury is, since it’s is not only for the west.

 "I believe Rwanda is home of luxury products because to me luxury is in the making, details, craftsmanship in everything we have here” Turahirwa said.

High competition

Turahirwa says that although Africa is home luxury there are still some challenges in the luxury market, like people’s mindset that think luxury is for a certain group of people, lack of enough people with skills to support that same initiative with tangible practices towards the making.

When it comes to international level the competition is too high, because there are people who have been doing it for ages that have built their brands, says Turahirwa.

The designer says competing on the international market is not easy, because people buy from a brand they know, a fashion designer they know, and the story they like. So it’s something that takes time for it to thrive. 

"It requires you to be patient for people to first get familiar with your brand, which is like dating someone, because you have to go back, and go back until you convince them,” the designer said.

Moses describes the process of making a garment as difficult, before people get to see big names wearing his brand or even hang in the shop. "I don’t know how I can describe it, there is a lot of sweat, emotions and roller coaster behind the scenes… fashion can be devastating that is the part that people don’t get to see” he said.

He adds that there has to be a concept and then developing through research to mood boards, to trials, fittings, pre fittings, to agreeing on the garment, the step of choosing the fabric, color, details and the design step and then planning the show.

"It is a whole million steps to have a garment finished and ready to even sell or to give to a profile you think will wear it,” he said 

Turahirwa gives an example of how they had to make the entire collection in a week before the show, which normally takes one year or a half but because of one thing that was not resonating, it made them cancel everything and they had to recreate it. 

To him and his teammates, it’s like a roller coaster because they sometimes get devastated because sometimes they have to work overnight and sleep in the studio with the tailors. 

Acquiring the right skills in the making is the only thing that needs to be done in African fashion houses to produce quality products, according to Moses, because there are talents and inspirations.

"Understanding the garments, understanding the fabrics, colors, we need to improve in knowledge so that we can do something competitive on the global scene, otherwise it’s going to be stuck here” Turahirwa said.

Dealing with anxiety disorder

Turahirwa says he struggles with anxiety disorder and also has intense changes in his emotional state either because of his personal life or work related reasons.

Asked how he copes with it, he said he takes time off, to deal with it.

"I take a time off when I think it’s too much, I try to breathe in and out and I also try to talk to some people like my friends who act like punching bags and when it gets too bad and gets out of handle, I talk to specialists,” he said

Moses Turahirwa was born in Nyamasheke, Western province which he says was not more advanced compared to the city. He attended primary school in the same area, and he then attained his secondary education in Technical construction in Butare, Save.