Designed by

Gloria Wavamunno

Production Location

Uganda

Year launched

2009

Social
Website
https://gloriawavamunno.com/

Biography

Gloria Wavamunno is a Ugandan designer and entrepreneur known for her minimalistic, structured womenswear that plays with textures and prints. The daughter of Ugandan entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist Gordon Wavamunno, she received an early education in textiles and tailoring by learning from her family’s garment construction factory, and her inclination toward art and creativity was strongly encouraged by her parents. She later went on to study fashion at the American Intercontinental University in London and cut her teeth by interning at brands including Ozwald Boateng, before returning home to launch her eponymous brand in 2009.

Wavamunno’s aesthetic tends toward the avant-garde. Characterized by experimental shapes, powerful silhouettes—think bold shouldered cropped blazers and loose trousers with cinched waists—and East African Kitenge prints, each of the brand’s garments are guided by the practice of storytelling and the prioritization of elevated craftsmanship and garment construction. Drawing influence from designers like Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen, she plays around with different fabrics, textures, and masculinity and femininity to build collections that are an authentic expression of her own personality and style.

Besides her work as a designer, Wavamunno is also the founder and director of Kampala Fashion Week, an initiative driven by her desire to see the wider Ugandan fashion scene and it’s emerging designers thrive. Since its inception, she and her team have hosted numerous seminars and workshops in addition to the annual catwalk event. “KFW was created to show the rest of the world what we are capable of while also being a facility to handle things we lacked—education, training, skills and the passion we should have as artists from Africa,” she told Vogue Czechoslovakia.

Considered a pioneer in the Ugandan fashion scene who has spearheaded a transformation of the local industry, Wavamunno has showcased her work at Arise Fashion Week, Africa Fashion Week New York, London Fashion Week, South African Fashion Week, and Nairobi’s Festival for Fashion and Arts, and been featured in publications including Atelier55, Nataal, Elyt Magazine, and Vogue Czechoslovakia.