Kai’s Divo Collection, a renowned Ugandan brand closed Men’s Fashion Week in Lagos last November with a flashy collection. The event was crowned with Abbas Kaijuka, the creative director of the brand, getting named Designer of the year.
In this chat, Kaijuka shares his inspiration for the collection and why he wishes all men would wear capes.
What was the starting point for this collection?
This collection was about everything we think men shouldn’t wear. It was birthed out of a conversation I had had with some of my male clients. They were wondering what would happen if I gave them some of our signature dramatic styles to wear. Men usually come to me for conventional menswear pieces such as suits. Yet, if you’ve been following my brand right from our early days, you know that I’m a rebel when it comes to menswear. In my world, menswear should be more fun and expressive. Putting the collection together was easy, I worked with most of the fabrics that I usually work with for womenswear and married some of the styles together, to create a collection that’s bordering gender-neutral.
We see a lot of tulle on pants and jackets. These are soft fabrics usually seen in womenswear. What was your thought process making men wear tulle?
My work allows me the opportunity to interface with lots of people, both men and women. From my experience, men are way softer than women. You can measure someone’s strength by the number risks they are willing to take. Men are not risk takers when it comes to style. I wanted to showcase the level of risk taking men ought to be at.
We also see a lot of capes, what was the idea behind these?
I’ve always been fascinated by capes. They are the wings that make superheroes such as Superman and Batman fly. In a cape, I see men who are out there saving the planet.
These are generally edgy looks for men. What’s your take on men getting adventurous with shapes and detail?
Like I said, I’d like men to be more adventurous. I’d like men to take more risks. It doesn’t hurt to think out of the usual box.
Akram Sempala (signed to Joram Model Management) models looks from the collection.
Photos by Banji Bagwana
Dancer Cathy Patra stars in a photo shoot wearing a sequined pantsuit from the collection
Photos by Soul Image Art
The runway presentation during Men’s Fashion Week in Lagos
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