The man behind G Jey Mavazi, the aspiring international brand

That’s a nice shirt and pair of pants you are wearing. Are those part of the G-jey Mavazi line

Yes. I only wear clothes from my fashion line. I want to be the Calvin Klein of Kenya. You know the way you see his clothes and immediately recognise them? I want G jey Mavazi to become like that.

You have big dreams...

Yes. I have the skill and I’m a trendsetter. You see the Ankara print shoes you see everyone wearing these days? I’m the one who created the trend back in 2006.

Really?

Yes. I made an Ankara shoe, and in the weeks that followed, the trend picked up and everyone was lining up at Kariokor to make them.

Take us back to your days in Kibera. How was that and how did you stumble upon fashion design?

I moved to Kibera after my father died, when I was nine years old. Before that, I used to live in Eldoret. I had to drop out of school because my mother could not support all of us,  10 children without our father around. My father was a tailor so I learnt sewing from him. When he died, I had to look for other sources of income so I was employed at my cousin’s shop where we’d make shirts for Sh1 a piece.

What kind of clothes can you make for Sh1?

Cheap shirts that tear as you put them on. The shirts were called Korea. I would make about 160 Korea pieces a day to survive until I said enough was enough. I told my mother the work was too hard for me.

So what did you do after quitting?

I did other hustles here and there before I started working for another tailor in Kiserian. There was even a time I was a boda boda operator. I fell a lot of passengers because I was young (13 years old) and couldn’t ride the bike properly. I abandoned the job when I got a job as a tailor’s assistant. But I was still young and hadn’t learnt everything about sewing. Because of this, the shop owner decided to fire me. He summoned me. But before I went, I sneaked off to the loo and prayed hard. I told God I had nowhere to go and I needed the job and I prayed the boss would just let me stay.

Did the prayers work?

Yes. When the time came for me to see my boss, he got a call from Kaveke (renowned international fashion designer) telling him that the client who had wanted the bridal party outfits he had outsourced to him had moved the wedding up and they needed the clothes fast. Since he had only me and another tailor to help, he needed all the help he could get so he told me to be the other tailor’s assistant. I’m a fast learner so I observed and did my best. When my boss came in the following day, he was impressed with what I had learnt in such a short time and he maintained me.

So how did you move from being an assistant to owning your own fashion line?

I had friends who saw potential in me, so they contributed money to help me set up my own store in Kibera. They also encouraged me to participate in upcoming designers’ fashion show. I signed up for a show and attendees liked my work. I got many calls from people interested in my work. That began a journey of me setting up my own brand. I have never paid to participate in a fashion show. Organisers just call me. I have been in the Nairobi Fashion Week, Glamour Awards among others. It is during one of these events that I met Larry Madowo and we exchanged contacts.

Tell us more about that?

I met Larry Madowo at a fashion showcase. I stepped up to him and asked if I could dress him. At first I was skeptical about approaching him because celebrities can be quite snobbish, but Larry was cool. We exchanged contacts and I didn’t think about it for some time until one day I decided to reach out to him. He picked a design he wanted me to make and I said I could do it. He asked how, since I didn’t have his measurements, but I crossed my fingers, looked at his pictures online and estimated his size, and when I sent it to him, it fit perfectly. That is how I became his designer.

With such a big client you must be laughing all the way to the bank...

Larry doesn’t pay me for the clothes he wears on his show. He offered to pay, but I declined because I gain so much more from the publicity I get when he mentions my brand and posts the links to my social media pages during his show.

You make outfits for bridal parties, but not for the bride, why?

I do not like to deal with brides because they tend to have an attitude. I understand a wedding dress is a big deal, but it’s just too much drama I’d rather avoid.

What advice can you give youths who want to get into fashion or any other career?

Put God first in all that you do. That’s what has helped me. Yes I have talent, but all the breaks I have gotten are because of God.