Calling Kenyan male designers and stylists

Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Alexander McQueen, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Louboutin, Gianni Versace, Marc Jacobs are some of the biggest names in fashion design internationally.

The golden thread that runs through all these names is that they are all men.

In the high-end fashion scene, male designers run the game, dominating even women's fashion trends.

In Kenya, it is the exact opposite.

Not only do men here seem to make every effort to steer clear of fashion, male designers and stylists have had to endure suspicious glances from other men who cannot wrap their minds around the fact that a man would choose fashion and design as a career.

In their minds, these men are most likely gay.

The average Kenyan female knows that should you ever make the preposterous suggestion of watching the Fashion TV channel or news items on fashion, you would have to pry that remote control out of their cold, lifeless hands long after they are dead, because Kenyan men do not prefer such shows.

This is because ironically, Western media, the very people that are obviously very accepting of a male-dominated fashion world, have been responsible for perpetuating the stereotype that fashion-forward men are oestrogen-laden, nose-powdering, feminine men.

Whenever a Kenyan's man's eyes accidentally land on anything fashion-related, all he ever sees are men with perfectly coiffed hair and overly smooth skin cooing in high-pitched voices with Californian valley-girl accents bout how "oh that outfit is just llloveleh on you, gurl! Like, oh my gosh, so gorge!" complete with a girly snap of the fingers with well-manicured nails.

At this point, the Kenyan man will subconsciously find himself confirming that his beard is still intact, feeling the sheer horror of the emasculating sight he just witnessed and will change channels frantically looking for wrestle-mania with a deeper grunt than usual.

I am only slightly exaggerating but the truth is that in Kenya, attitudes towards men inclined to fashion remain largely negative, which has kept many would-be designers away.

John Kaveke has excelled despite these prejudices and he says, "this boils down to our cultures. If you look at what our parents called 'real jobs', fashion was not one of them and especially not for men.

"Even today some people still believe art is not a real job, being in an office is the real job, but it has changed a lot.

"Male designers are popping up and doing very well because people are becoming open-minded and are not afraid. A lot of the best hair dressers are men and that was a career that men could not touch before."

It is great that attitudes are changing, for who knows, one of our young men might just pull a Lupita on us and shoot to stardom as a fashion designer.

In July, CNN featured Nairobi-based Wan Fam Clothing, founded by brothers Jeff and Emmanuel Wanjala.

Zeddie Lukoe and Sidney Owino of Blackbird designs have dressed the likes of Sauti Sol and are now said to be rubbing shoulders with, nay, draping the shoulders of some big shots in Hollywood.

Maybe the world's next big name in fashion and design lies in Kenya, undiscovered, buried beneath the weight of antiquated attitudes that say that men should not venture into fash