Fashion designer who honed skills at EPZ factories

Ms Ria Ana Sejpal, the fashion director of Kemaya Africa. Courtesy Photo 

By Mwikali Lati

In Summary

• Ana Sejpal got first job at 16 but took time to understand industry, sew, learn client relations and how to produce in bulk.

At 16, Ria Ana Sejpal was on her first fashion job. At this tender age, she was an intern at a custom dressmaker’s whose specialty was evening wear.

Here, she bagged teh basics and headed straight to the EPZ factories to “fully understand what every single role within fashion entails.”

Why did she not just walk straight into design? “I don’t believe in telling people what to do when you don’t know how to do the job yourself,” she said.

“I learned how to sew and client interaction with the dressmaker then learnt mass production at the factories.”

Ms Sejpal grew up dabbling in all kinds of artistic expressions, including painting, crafts and fashion. Her interest in fashion grew deeper in early teenage when she would take her clothing to a tailor to remake them into something else. Long skirts became dresses or leggings became tops. She even used old jewellery to make trims and appliqués.

So it was only natural that later on in life she would become a fashion director of an exclusive boutique, Kemaya Africa.

Opened in 2009, it started selling evening Indian wear designed by many. Four years later, the strategy has changed and a new concept has taken effect. The boutique’s focus now is western style clothes to dress the woman for all occasions.

“I collaborate with them [designers] to create unique pieces that are tailored to the Kenyan woman: her lifestyle, socialisation and her body type among other things. We only produce one piece per design; this makes them totally unique,” says Ms Sejpal.

Located off James Gichuru Road, the boutique decor is simple with each designer’s work hanged together for a shopper to appreciate, judge and probably choose. Shoppers can have a break for tea or coffee on a comfortable sofa in the middle of the premises.

The Kemaya Africa woman values timeless style over fad trends. She is exposed to international fashion and appreciates being unique: self-assured with regards to fashion, celebrates herself through fashion and treats herself to pieces she will wear for a lifetime.

With this description etched on her mind, Ms Sejpal brings luxury fashion to the Kenyan market with every piece she displays.

“I would define luxury as well, in terms of fashion, as more about the attention to every aspect of the production process from start to finish. I don’t just mean expensive fabrics. Expensive doesn’t mean luxury,” she told the Business Daily.

“It’s more about the value and the integrity with which the products have been created and the service you get when you go into a place. It all combines to form luxury.”

The boutique boosts printed silk pieces using the ancient Japanese dying technique, Shibori. Similar to tie-dye, it is impossible to repeat a pattern or print. The pieces are also made with exotic types of silks like tussar, matka and crushed.

“The biggest challenge so far is to convince people that you are actually a luxury brand in Kenya. When people come in and see the clothes they appreciate that there is a lot of work, effort and craftsmanship that has gone into each piece,” the designer says.