Matthew Rugamba

Matthew “Tayo” Rugamba is the Founder and Creative Director of House of Tayo which he started in 2011 as a college junior. Since then he has presented collections at Africa Fashion Week London 2012 and had his work featured in the local and international press - the Huffington Post, Forbes Africa, BBC news, CNN’s African Start-Up to name a few. He has been invited to speak on a variety of issues related to the potential of the African creative industry and youth entrepreneurship at forums such as Wharton Africa Business Forum 2015 and World Economic Forum for Africa 2016.

After graduating from Lewis & Clark College with a B.A in International Affairs, Matthew returned to Rwanda to expand his business. In July 2014, House of Tayo opened its first store, located in Kigali, Rwanda. House of Tayo continues to specialise in accessories such as ties, bow ties and infinity scarves, as well as bespoke suits.

Aside from growing his business, Matthew made it a personal goal to help grow and elevate Rwandan fashion on the regional and international stage. He co-founded the Collective Rw in 2015 in a bid to develop the existing industry and help foster the next generation of Rwandan fashion designers and other professionals within the field. Collective Rw had their inaugural fashion week in October 2016 and the third edition will be in July 2018.