Ally Rehmtullah Talks How He Built His Premium Yet Mainstream Fashion Brand

Ally Rehmtullah is a Tanzanian fashion designer of Indian descent. He studied at the Baum School of Art and Lehigh Valley College in the United States. He is the first East African designer to show at London Fashion Week.

He spoke to Business Elites Africa on the state of Africa’s Fashion industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic, among other issues.

Q: What inspired you to become a fashion designer?

Fashion was never something I had ever thought of doing as a career, however, I always had a love for art and creativity. It was in 2002 when I went to the US to study Graphics Design and Fine arts That I was introduced to Fashion 101 by my councillor and that was it – I was in love from the start. The Fabrics, the textures, the colours – it was all so exciting to me.

Q: What’s your favourite part of being a fashion designer?

Every day is a new day for me – meeting new people, not knowing what’s going to happen next. Inspiring young creatives out there, and finally when you dress someone and make them smile. It is a very satisfying feeling to be part of someone’s happiness by just making them comfortable and beautiful in what they are wearing.

Q: For whom do you design?

Ally Rehmtullah is a premium yet mainstream brand. That means being in the Tanzanian Fashion Industry for over 12 years has led us to cater to all kinds of markets – We design for any average Tanzanian who wants to look beautiful and stand out from the crowd.

Q: How did you get funding to start your fashion business?

There was no funding. No one including myself ever thought Fashion would actually be my full-time career. When I moved back to Tanzania in 2006 and started talking to people about my passion, I got my first client who wanted me to make a New Year’s Eve dress for her. I went to the market to source the fabric, spent Tshs 35,000 on it (about 15 USD) , looked for a tailor on the street by my place, and explained to him how I wanted the dress to be stitched.

The client loved the dress, paid me Tshs 150,000 (about 75 USD) for it and I slowly got into business. It was only 4 years later that I decided to actually have an office space and invest in a sewing machine and my own full-time tailor – before that I used to work from home. And now 13 years later – Ally Rehmtullah is a successful fashion brand with a shop on the peninsula, a workshop and 25 employees.

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