Our designers must pull up their socks

Lupita Nyongo is moved to tears by a poem from pupils of Mariwa Primary school during her homecoming ceremony at her rural home at Ratta grounds in Seme cnstituency in Kisumu County 01-07-2015. [Photo:Titus Munala/STANDARD]

Like many of the older designers in Kenya, I met Lupita Nyong’o when she was doing Miss Malaika. After that, KikoRomeo continued to provide clothes for her events, including the launch of the documentary In My Genes and her graduation from Yale.

We worked closely together, and she modelled for one of our photo shoots. So when she started to get nominated for awards, I emailed her and asked to dress her. She already had a team around her, so she introduced me online to her stylist Micaela Erlanger.

After sending look books to Micaela and studying what Lupita was wearing, I realised that their idea was to conquer the Red Carpet charts through tried and tested big international brands like Dior, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and so on.

She had become a branded and packaged Hollywood product, destined to be a global A-lister, and that could not happen without a team and strategy.

I asked Arieta Mujay, a fashion public relations expert in London, what to do. “Forget the red carpet. She will never move from big designers at this stage; do a capsule collection every season for her to wear on regular occasions,” she told me.

Then her mum Dorothy Nyong’o asked me to make something for the BAFTAs. I made her a gorgeous silk outfit and they were photographed on the red carpet together, which went viral. I also gave her a few items for Lupita, some she kept, though I do not know if she wore them.

As time passed, and we saw no Kenyan or African fashion being worn by Lupita, I decided to try again.

I put a call on Facebook to Kenyan designers and got someone to hand deliver items to House of Erlanger. They included products from Kitty Odong, Mia Mara, CREA, Kooroo, KikoRomeo and Ogake. I do not know whether Lupita ever saw them, but we knew they might or might not be used.

In the world of international stardom, celebrities are loaned or gifted items.

They do not buy, they are some times even paid a lot to wear them, especially if it is a major red carpet.

When an A-lister wears your item at a major event it goes global, just think how much you would spend on advertising to achieve the same exposure.

What I have since learned is that celebrity stylists call PR firms to get clothes for the stars they dress.

The firms, especially in New York and London, represent designers and keep their collections to give for editorials, dressing celebrities and show to buyers.

IMMEDIATE CALL

When a specific event comes up, the stylist calls the PR company to see what they have. As far as I am aware, the only Kenya-based designers who do this are Penny Winter, Lalesso and Anna Trebinski. If you want to be on the international radar, this is something you must invest in.

So Lupita’s visit came as a surprise, but once announced, should have been an immediate call to action for Kenya’s designers.

The international fashion world moves fast; you need to know who your target is and be ready at all times to work around the clock to meet the needs.

Will you be lucky? You don’t know till you try.

Is it worth the risk? That depends on your brand positioning and how important it is to you.

Are you ready to make use of the photo with a digital strategy and ability to turn out stock fast? Be prepared.

I had been given a heads up a week before and been booked for fittings and alterations.

A lot of the wardrobe was planned in terms of concept and flown in, as fashion is critical to brand Lupita.

They knew Kenyan design was important, but it was not readily available in New York.

So on arrival they took a KikoRomeo outfit and Woolworths pants for the Amboseli Wild Aid shoot.

I then collected many other Kenyan designer products from which Micaela and Lupita selected CREA earrings to be worn in Kisumu with the Deepa Dosaja hand painted outfit; a Kikoti print jumpsuit with Aprelle Duany bag for lunch at Safaricom; and Suave and Sandstorm bags for the next safari, as well as beaded skull cap by Drop of a Hat.

Moving forward, it seems that it will be critical for Kenyan designers to get representation in public relations offices if we want to be visible globally. Lupita is claimed by Kenyans, Africans and people of colour as their own.

I would guess that all are important to Team Lupita. So to compete with Maki Oh, Jewel by Lisa, Sophie Zinga and the very many others, we need to rethink our strategy collectively and individually, and not just expect her to rock up on our doorstep.

Ann McCreath is the chair of FAFA, and Founder and Managing Director of KikoRomeo Fashion House. She was recognised in Africa’s Fashion World Power players by New African Woman 2015 and was a finalist for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Fashion in the Source Awards 2012.