The Designers Studio - Magazine The Designers Studio - Issue ONE | Page 17

Afronauts [Image: Courtesy of AMILO by Lulu Mutuli]
The former was a capsule collection depicting the
concept of “Africa going to Space” while the latter
was the first collection under the AMILO label. It was
a seven-look capsule collection that celebrates the
role that technology has taken in Kenya; which was
kind of distorting the natural textures and saturated
colours of digital print and distorted figure on the
print. I wanted to take the thought process a little bit
further and see what the technology element had to
offer. And in the long term, seeing how to best
integrate the two.
Are you currently selling clothes under the label or
have you taken a break?
At the moment, I have taken a break. I think for the
first half of this year it’s been quite interesting
switching gears in that way. Working with the
Heineken project and Diana Opoti made it clear that
90 percent of  a fashion brand is business. Coming
out of fashion school, a lot of designers don’t realise
that fact and that the business element does take
time. I think in the next half of this year I could start
opening up a bit more and start to actively source
fabric. It’s a slow process unfortunately, but I think it’s
better to refine my product first.
AfroGlitch [Image: Courtesy of AMILO by Lulu Mutuli]
When you took the collection to Lagos for LFDW, were
there any lessons you garnered that you’ll incorporate
into AMILO? 
I’ve been able to witness what people are doing, what
their products look like, who they’ve been able to connect
with, and where they’ve been able to show. All of that
takes time, refining and fixing. That it’s worth taking the
time and creating a good product, instead of trying to
create something for the sake of making it. Nothing is lost
in taking my time and coming out when the time is right.
So, my goal is to grow my global community but maintain
the Kenyan heart to it; especially given that the name is
AMILO.
Who is AMILO targeting?
The young, modern working woman. It’s versatile clothing
that supports the woman on the move. She doesn’t have a
lot of time to plan her wardrobe but if I just throw anything
that AMILO has made into my suitcase I will be sorted. It’s
generally to solve a lot of the issues that my friends and
family have had. They want workwear but something that
can also work at a cocktail or wedding. And the idea here
is for customers to shop the way I do. That is, getting
complimentary pieces that work well with one another.
Thus, every collection should complement the one before
it. So that it’s a collectable and there would be limited
editions of each one.
www.tdsblog.com/lulu-mutuli-amilo/  |  17