Nancy Muthoni Ndegwa always knew she would be a mathematics teacher since she was very good in the subject. Her father, however, encouraged her to be an accountant instead.
So, together with her brother, she enrolled for the course after completing secondary school. Besides being a mathematics whiz, Ms Muthoni had an artistic side to her, which grew stronger every day.
“I used to be an artist while in high school. I also loved dressing up, and would always be excited when I saw people wearing unique designs,” she recalls.
At the end of the accounting course, only her brother brought a certificate home. Ms Muthoni had been depositing her school fees in the bank as she had lost interest in the course.
She dropped out of college and her parents gave her time to decide what she wanted to pursue in life. During that period, Ms Muthoni accompanied her mother to her workshop, where she worked as a tailor.
“I was good at designing clothes and I would sketch most of my attires and then get my mother to sew them for me,” she says.
Her mother was amazed by the creativity and she at times used her as a model for her designs. Ms Muthoni’s journey to being a fashion designer was, however, not entirely smooth.
“I had gone to town to buy perfumes and I was dressed in a purple Ankara skirt that my mother and I had just made. A lady stopped me and asked me to tell her where I had bought my skirt. When I told her, she gave me an order on the spot,” she recalls.
The following week, when she was doing the delivery, she wore an Ankara T-shirt she had made with her mother and the same client gave her two more orders.
“She became my client, so every time I made a delivery she would either give me an order or refer a new client to me,” she adds.
At some point, the number of clients overwhelmed her mother, forcing Ms Muthoni to learn to do it by herself.
Within a few months, she was doing well and was able to cut material and sew the clothes all by herself. Between August and December 2015, she built a sizeable clientele.
“In December the same year, I got a big order for a wedding. That confirmed to me that fashion and design is truly what I wanted to do,” said Muthoni.
After five months, she had saved enough to buy her own sewing machine. She then embarked on a mission to perfect her skills and learn as much as possible from other tailors who were more experienced.
“I was lucky that every tailor I approached was willing to guide me,” she says.
Her clients range from corporates seeking unique outfits for their employees, to those planning weddings and parties, as well as individual clients who love to wear fancy outfits.
“I got my first client from the streets, on Nairobi’s Dubois Road to be specific. The charges for events wear ranges from Sh5,000 to Sh50,000.Clothing for special occasions may, however, be a bit costly depending on the quality and quantity of the fabric,” she says. BY DAILY NATION