Vivian Mutesi On Starting All Over Again, Life After Modelling and Her Personal Style

Our theme this month is ‘Fresh Start’; when we quizzed Vivian Mutesi, our cover star, about what it means to her, she described it as “forgiving myself for everything that didn’t work out last year.” “It is okay to learn and come back better.”

Being a fashion model for over 10 years, Mutesi has surely had a fair share of rejection. After her first audition at Arapapa Models, she didn’t get a call back. This, however, didn’t stop her from moving forward. The budding model, who was fresh out of Mengo Secondary School, took a stroke of inspiration and ran with it, being hyper-vigilant while auditioning and exposing herself to opportunities on wards. Soon after, Judith Heard was staging a fashion show, she immediately reached out to her via Facebook and got an invitation to audition. She landed the gig, and this was her break.

The self-taught model learnt how to walk by watching Fashion TV and gleaning from supermodels like Tyra Banks and Gisele Bündchen. She started by getting herself all the work she could, but after a year in the business, she met Joram Muzira at a Sylvia Owori fashion show and should we say, the rest was history? She has been part of his brigade of successful models since then.

As a child, Mutesi earned herself the title of ‘model’ thanks to her lithe figure and impossibly long legs, which prompted her to figure out what it meant to be a model really early.

“I was fascinated by the fact that I could be styled into literally anything by only switching up the clothes I’m wearing,” she laughs. Her initial purpose of getting into modelling was to use the platform to make a difference. “I wanted to change perceptions people had of models; that they have to sleep their way to success,” she adds. For example, when she told her mother about her career goal, she was hesitant to give her stamp of approval. “She had a negative view of models and was worried for my safety,” she recalls.  Her dad had a different view though. “He is quite open minded, he said ‘cool, try it out.’ He even went ahead and reached out to my uncle Kalungi Kabuye who used to take pictures of the fashion shows.” Kabuye, who is a veteran journalist, guided her on who to talk to making it quite breezy.

In 2016, Mutesi made the decision to take a break from modelling, something everyone keeps quizzing her about till today. “I felt like I had achieved most of the things that the Ugandan fashion market had to offer; I had featured in countless magazines, done so many fashion shows and went ahead to win East African Model of the Year in 2015.”

She met a mentor who helped her figure out what she wanted to do next. It is then that she realised that her initial purpose was to create a platform she could use to make her difference. She decided to focus her energy on opening a modelling school that would teach girls how to carry themselves as models, improve their business acumen and add value to brands they work with.

“The absence of this kind of training is the reason why socialites and ‘influencers’ are taken more seriously than actual models. They have more to offer; like a following and authentic influence. The modelling world has changed because of social media. Models are not just hangers, they are influencers, content creators and style icons.” she explains. This project is in its infancy stage.

That aside, Mutesi works with Red Five, an organisation which deals with families, teaching them how to improve their health with food; showing them that the right food is medicine. As part of the training team, she works with youth (aged 20-35), her core being teaching communication skills, goal setting, setting business plans and more.

Her goals this year include; empowering more people from all aspects of life, connecting with more people and for whatever she is working on, to inspire more people with her work. She is also looking to start a company called “Red Cabbage” which will have her divide her time between Uganda, Botswana and Nairobi. She’s however very tight-lipped about the details of this passion project.  

Her tips for aspiring models: “Fall in love with your uniqueness. Your weaknesses can be used as a strength. Decide what kind of model you want to be and stick to it. Get a good manager; one that you trust and who wants you to succeed.”

She is trying to get her brother, who she shares the cover with, into modelling. Edgar Mukisa is getting ready to sign with Joram Model Management officially soon. “He is waiting for a year to get to the legal age of 18 before this can happen.” He seeks inspiration from none other than his sister. His passion for fashion goes beyond modelling, he loves to put together clothes and went ahead to style himself for this cover shoot.

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Since models wear so many different kinds of clothes, it’s hard to know what they want to wear on a regular basis. I probed Vivian more to find out about her personal style.

How would you describe your personal style?

Well, that depends on the occasion. Of course I’ll dress to fit the occasion but on a normal day I’d say my style is more boho chic, street style and laid back. A combination of those, but mostly laid back.

Are you into neutral colours or bright colour is your thing?

Neutral all the way! It’s just the way I am, I’m neutral. I’ve never liked bright colours. It’s black, it’s the beige. Plain, simple, classic. Not bright colours. I don’t do animal prints or all that drama.

If you could swap closets with any one celebrity, who would it be?

Easy, Rihanna.

An item you can’t live without …..

High heels, a good pair of black high heels. Over-sized blazer and generally all things black. Actually all the clothes for this shoot were from my closet; I styled myself, so you can see what my wardrobe staples are.

The one trend that just needs to stop…

Omg, can we stop with neon? I can’t deal with it. As well as these ombre braids? It was good while it lasted, now can we move onto something else?

Lastly, what trend do you wish could come back in style?

Well, I don’t follow trends, so I don’t really have anything to wish for.

Models: Vivian Mutesi (@itisviv) & Edgar Mukisa

Photographed by Banji Bagwana (@banjiphoto)

Makeup by Vanny Glam (@vannyglamug)

Styling: Vivian & Edgar

atwiine@satisfashionug.com