FEATURE: Brains behind Eve Collection

When she was schooling at the University of East London in the United Kingdom, Evelyn Rugemalira dreamt of being part of her family in running their business when she returned back home. Soon after completing her studies she joined Mabibo Beer wines and Spirits  Company Limited.

In 2010, Eve went to Lagos, Nigeria, for a vacation. It was that trip which changed her mind from winery to fashion. Her passion for fashion was so strong that she decided to venture into the business. Fashion has the ability to inspire, inform and document the society, she says.

She was inspired by the way West African people make their clothes. “I loved the way they mix African touch with chiffon. The good thing is, they design their outfits according to the body shape and size of the client who ends up looking really nice,” she said.

“I visited different big shops and I was inspired by the way businessmen display and sell their own brands. By then I did not have a budget for shopping, therefore I decided to design the clothes for me,” she said.

A soft spot for curvy women

Although she likes fashion, Eve was still undecided on what to design.   “It is difficult for me to get outfits because of my big body and when I saw how West African people wore, I was so happy that I would get something beautiful for me and for other women like me,” said Eve.

When she came back home, she went to China to buy some materials for production. She started her design business, opening Eve Bridal Collections at Mikocheni in Dar es Salaam, with a $15,000 capital.

 She was confident that with bridal collections, her clients especially plus size women would get something unique; a nice unique couture gown.

“In Europe, it is very expensive to get a couture dress but in Africa it is the other way round. People are willing to wear couture gowns at very important occasions and they still look nice,” she explains.

For Eve, in the fashion industry, creativity and hard work give rise to good designs. She works even at night, trying to design new outfits. Her hard working spirit pays as in 2013 she was declared the best designer during the Swahili Fashion Week. 

Martin Kadinda a Tanzanian model, designer and owner of mvutokwanza.blogspot.com describes Eve as someone who is keen to learn new things. “I remember last year she asked me to help her dress her models well. I did that job which she appreciated,” he says.

Knowing what you want

Eve knows what she wants in the fashion industry, she is very serious in her work and her designs are unique, says Shamimu Mwasha, owner of 8020Fashions Blog who also hails Eve for being a strong woman.

 “This was a big achievement for me in my journey as a designer. I was so happy that people are recognising my work,” says Eve, whose designs are for professionals, traders and brides-to-be.

Despite creating killer designs, Eve is disappointed by others in the fashion industry whose job is to copy and paste other people’s  creativity.

“You know it pains when someone copies your work. Just imagine, you spend a lot of time, working overnight, designing an outfit and someone’s work is to copy it,” Eve laments.

 Apart from designing women’s outfits, Eve also designs girls outfits and she is in the process of designing kids collections for girls in memory of her late daughter, Isabella Bulengo.

“I am in the process of designing kids collections and this will be special in memory of my daughter, who passed away in April 2012. Isabella was my model, too and she was real good on catwalk stage,” said the first born in a family of three.

 Apart from being a fashion design, she is also a decorator, although she does it out of passion and not for business. She decided to quit it as according to her, “decorating needs a lot of time as the nature of the job may hold you until late hours,” she says, confessing that she is not a night owl.

For her, hard work, integrity, creativity are her top secrets for success.

“In life people should never give up or lose hope,” says Eve who is inspired by Oprah Winfrey.

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