As a child, Jean-Vainqueur Munezero was fascinated by fashion. Rarely was he bored as he spent most of his free time re-creating designs for his sister from old clothes. Although the designs weren’t the best, for a 10-year-old, the results were promising. It helped that his family was supportive; they commended and appreciated the outfits he made for them, and this motivated him to do better. “I now look back and see that what I made wasn’t the best. I didn’t sew because I had no training. I just attached clothes with a thread, I was basically just playing with old clothes and figuring out how to create something that I saw in a cartoon or movie. But I got skills in senior four. That’s when I started to know how to create garments,” the 26-year-old says. When he joined secondary school, Munezero got a better understanding of fashion, through runways and other talent shows and events. As a STEM student, and graduate of University of Kigali in computer science, his zeal for technology was a bonus. During his second year, an aunt informed him of a scholarship opportunity at what used to be Rwanda Institute of Fashion and Design, a branch of Integrated Polytechnic Regional College (IPRC). He applied and got it, then pursued a one-year course in fashion and design. In 2017, his aunt gave him a sewing machine as a gift. After that, he started his own Kacyiru-based company known as “Maison Munezero”, a clothing brand that manufactures men and women’s clothing and bridal wear. He now has four sewing machines. In 2018, he was a finalist in a talent competition organised by Imbuto Foundation where he was mentored for a year. Together with other creatives, they were given a platform to showcase their work. Munezero dressed guests at the “Kwita Izina” ceremony in 2020, taking his brand a notch higher and opening doors for him to more clients as photos were shared on social media. According to him, being a fashion designer isn’t just about having a passion for clothes, it requires patience, consistency, and skills. He says that fashion is an industry that requires learning new styles because fashion changes every day, noting that it’s like technology, as it needs to be updated frequently. One of his biggest challenges, besides the effects of the pandemic, is finding the right materials at an affordable price. Although still on a small scale, Munezero exports his garments to the US, Belgium, and Kenya and hopes to reach more countries. His inspiration is Cristóbal Balenciaga, the deceased Spanish fashion designer who was known as “The King of Fashion” and was one of the great masterminds of the period. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as “the master of us all” by the late French fashion designer Christian Dior, who also happens to be one of Munezero’s idols. Lessons, he says, have kept him going. “You need to choose which field is your principal concern, ask your clients what they need, get inspiration from your competitors, and set yourself up for success. “Being a successful fashion designer takes creativity, sense of style, knowledge of current fashion trends, artistic ability, good communication skills, competitive spirit, and strong sewing skills,” the fashionista says.
