Nadege Uwamahoro fondly known as Nana by her fans and friends is the proprietor of Nana Events. Born in Bwiza, Burundi in 1990 Nadege later moved to Rwanda with her parents. In an interview with The Sunday Times Uwamahoro explains how she got involved in the fashion world. She says that the passion for being a fashion designer started during her childhood. “Being a fashion designer is a dream come true, I always wanted to be a designer, I got inspiration from my mother at a very tender age, she was a fashion conscience lady, although I was young, I was always enchanted by the way she used to mix and match the colors,” says Uwamahoro.Her still budding career in the fashion industry started in 2008 when she appeared on stage for the very first time as a model and managed to impress the audience. Since then, she has never looked back .The 22 years old enterprising fashion designer started a company operating under the name Nana Events which is in charge of organizing events, training models and a marketing team. Although the Rwandan fashion industry is growing rapidly, local designers are still faced with many challenges and problems; “Although people are now getting interested and they are getting to know what fashion is all about, we still have a long way to go,” she says. Uwamahoro observes that some people still don’t take Rwandan designers and models seriously: “We are considered to be shallow people who lead a glamorous life, but when you look at our careers closely you will see that not everything is about glamour and fame. Most models are just doing a job like anyone else to pay their bills and make a living. “In fact the only thing that keeps fashion designers and models in this country going is the strong passion, talent and determination we have for what were do. What local fashion designers need is respect more than financial support.” Among the benefits of being in this industry, she says is “doing something you enjoy, getting opportunities to further your career so you can build up a reputation that will expand your creative boundaries, meeting interesting people and being part of the fashion process, and changing trends among others.”She advises parents not to suffocate their children’s passion and talents instead encourage and be there for them. “Some parents want their kids to take a route they (parents) want, without caring about the child’s talent. If your child wants to be a football player or a musician, don’t dishearten them, instead try and help them, because if you rebuke them and try to kill their gift, they’ll find away of doing it secretly.” The 22 year old whose favourite color is black, says her favorite fashion model is Beverly Johnson, a lady who also happened to be the first African American model to be on the cover of American Vogue magazine. She says her favourite dish is meat, rice and French-fries.Though she says she’s not so much into cars, A Mercedes Benz SLS AMG Roadstar open roofed is what takes her breath away.
