While the Covid-19 pandemic affected so many people which resulted in losing jobs, three sisters saw opportunities out of it and became self-employed to form ‘Makada Outfits’. “By the time the entire world was in a serious pandemic of Covid-19 some companies closed and jobs became scarce to many people. I lost my job and that prompted my young sisters and I to think of what we love the most, ‘Made in Rwanda’ especially clothes since we all like to dress nicely. That is how we decided to start designing fashionable attires.”Makada CEO, Lea Kangabe Uwamahoro told The New Times. The three sisters are Grace Twahirwa who is the Creative Director, Aline Uwase who is the Communication and Advocacy Manager, and Lea Kangabe Uwamahoro who is the CEO. As Kangabe explained, ‘Makada’ normally is an African name that means, ‘Born to rule or Princess’. Not only that but for them also, Makada stands for Malembe, Kabudi, and Darada which were the three sisters’ nicknames in their childhood. The sisters and founders of Makada Outfit (L-R) Aline Uwase, Lea Kangabe Uwamahoro and Grace Twahirwa . Photos/courtesy Aline Uwase stated that in the beginning, Makada started with only ladies’ clothes. As young female entrepreneurs, they also wanted to be the source of income to some vulnerable women and so they decided to employ some teen mothers who dropped out of school. They are hoping to expand and include some more employees if all goes well too. In the beginning, they were only selling their clothes online, by using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where people would text or call them to place their specific orders or pick from the posted designs and purchase from online. Though this was really serving them well, it was also challenging since, according to Twahirwa, there was a lack of credibility because they mostly couldn’t meet their customers physically. “Frankly speaking working online also helped us to gain some influencers like Miss Habibah Ingabire, Miss Claudine Uwase Muyango, artistes like Alyn Sano, and many other clients both from within and outside the region,” she said. Singer Aliine Sano donning one of the Makada designs. The clientele they gained allowed them to expand and open a new Fashion Shop in Kiyovu at KN 16 Ave 19. This, for them, has resulted into a few limitations compared to the one they used to have while they were working on line because now clients find them at the shop and place their orders or even select from what’s available. Talking about expanding, ‘Makada Oufits’ now makes men and women’s attires as well as kids’ out of quality fabric that they import from Turkey, Dubai, and China. With the sense of fashion these girls had ever since they started, styling celebrities comes at the top of their to-do list as they have some specific fabrics and accessories that goes in hands with their styles. Speaking about their goal, Kangabe said “We want to grow our ‘Made in Rwanda’ fashion brand to an international level to the point where everyone around the world can access our clothes.” You can reach them via 0787165985 or on their social media platforms; Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as makada_outfits.
