"When he started House of Tayo, Rugamba had not a shred of experience in fashion or design, and only had a few bow ties lying around. What he did have was a blog post on Tumblr he posted in early 2012 about African fashion, which spoke about the way bow ties were going to be his way of telling the story of an Africa that is sophisticated and dignified."
Read MoreHouse Of Tayo: Journey Of A Rwandan Designer is a forthcoming reality web series presented by The Africa Channel that offers a behind-the-scenes look into the daily routine of rising fashion designer and entrepreneur Matthew Rugamba. Viewers will be introduced to Rugamba and his bespoke menswear label, House Of Tayo, over the course of thirteen episodes as he scouts the streets of Kigali in search of fabric and inspiration for his new line of accessories.
Read MoreHouse of Tayo's Founder and Creative Director, Matthew Rugamba was interviewed by Rwandan morning show 'Rise and Shine.'
Read MoreWhile the small classes allowed him to put up his hand, his accent made people look up from their laptops. If the subject of Africa arose, all heads turned toward him. Prior to Lewis & Clark, he’d always been surrounded by people from his country. In Oregon, he picked up a new role: Africa ambassador.
“People didn’t know much about the country I consider home, Rwanda—especially in terms of its everyday life,” he says. At one point, he considered claiming he was from Uganda instead of Rwanda due to its troubled history of genocide, but he reconsidered. “I had to stand up for where I’m from. I wanted to show people the amazing things coming out of Africa.”
This led Rugamba, always a dapper presence on campus, to a decision. He’d combine his eye for fashion with his desire to share the stories of Africa.
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