With Just 4,000 Shillings, She Went Global!

Piece by: Harun Momanyi
Lifestyle

Yes, 4,000 shillings is all it took her to be a highly regarded fashion designer in Kenya and she's going global.

If there’s any inspiring story you’ll ever hear and relate to, it’s that of fashion designer Esther Musee, the proprietor of Mueni Musee Designs here in Nairobi. Her journey has been phenomenal, full of unprecedented surprises and hard earned successes.

I discovered her when I went to cover a big awards show last year. From our first encounter, she came across as humble and welcoming.

Esther’s story trails back to when she was a young girl in Kitui. She used to help her mum sell petticoats at the market. It wasn’t a fun thing to do -- selling wasn’t easy because her sister used to make fun of her. In fact, she would make Esther sell her quota. That was their livelihood. Humble beginnings those were.

It’s through that experience that she discovered her love for fashion.

Later on, she would move to Nairobi and with 4,000 shillings, she bought her first sewing machine and put up a small business at a bedsitter where she stayed in Dagoretti Corner.

One day. she went to Toi Market, bought a t-shirt which it happened to be too large for her to wear. She got an idea and from the t-shirt made a wonderful skirt which she wore the next day. Her friends couldn’t help but marvel at her new design and asked her where she bought it. She revealed her source and her method and that evening they went to Toi Market together and bought more t-shirts. She spent the night making the skirts for her friends and word spread of her design. That’s exactly how a friend of a friend got her to make pencil skirts for wedding maids at a wedding.

Since then, orders had been overflowing, not only for pencil skirts but also for other garments and she had to quit her day job to cater for her hustle which has since expanded hugely into a fully fledged workshop where she has several employees.

Fast forward to this year 2016, where Esther has now matured her trade and found herself designing outfits for top notch clients.

In May this year, Esther was the main designer for the Mr and Miss Kenya at the Kenyans in Diaspora Awards, Dubai. The outfits she designed have made the orders spike and she came back with a large book full of specifications from new clients in the diaspora which she intends to finish before Christmas (Yes, it is that large!)

She has also been featured on top tv shows in the country and has received recognition from several fashion bloggers in the industry.

Esther is just a regular entrepreneur who dreamed and followed her passion. She believed in herself, worked hard, never gave up and .