“We make at least 30 bowties in two or three days. The bowties are tricky to make and require a lot of patience. But Rugamba has marketed us well and we receive many clients,” Mukandahiro explains.

House of Tayo's Founder and Creative Director, Matthew Rugamba was interviewed by Rwandan morning show 'Rise and Shine.'

Classy and elegant, Rugamba's label House of Tayo combines bold African patterns and textures with western accessories to produce wax-print bow ties, colorful pocket squares and infinite scarfs for "Afro-dandies" in Rwanda and beyond.

We sat down with sartorially chic Rugamba to chat all things dandy: how to get the look; African influences; style icons and who he'd most like to see don his designs.

"I think I may have a slightly bigger passion for story-telling than fashion. I remember making my first trip to the tailors when I was about 8 years old. I went to have an outfit made for my family wedding. I found the whole process fascinating. After many trips to various tailors over the years I grew more and more in love with the process...."

'Death Then, Life Now': Intimate Images Capture the New Rwanda A new exhibition opens Friday in London, showcasing insightful snapshots of daily life in today’s Rwanda as seen through the eyes of local photographers. Called “Rwanda in Photographs: Death Then, Life Now,” the show aims to “communicate the complexities of survival after mass violence,” organizers say, while helping international audiences to “understand the scale and scope of the country’s journey.” It is an honor to be part of Andrew Esiebo’s series, ‘Returnees’. Picture taken at, and with the collaboration of Illume Creative Studio

"So, when he came to Rwanda on holiday, he resolved to get something purely African to take with him to the US to show his colleagues that his motherland had a brighter side."

The allure of staying and working in the United States of America is many a people’s dream, especially the youth. But for Matthew Rugamba, who went to college in the US, the promise of a better future lay back home. He told Business Times’ Peterson Tumwebaze why he chose to return home after college to start a fashion house in Kigali. 

Rugamba notes that in 2012, the year he started work on his line, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and Vivienne Westwood debuted Africa-inspired designs. “Some people complain that they’re bastardizing our culture, but I think this is the window African designers needed,” he says. “While the world’s paying attention, put your best foot forward.”

 While 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.