At the age of 14, Patricia Lulu Mbela decided she wanted to become a fashion designer. She has come a long way since then, and now boasts over 20 years of fashion industry experience.
She is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and head designer at fashion de – sign and ethnic jewellery house POISA, which creates garments for both men and women as well as matching accessories such as jewellery and bags. Mbela’s journey began after she completed her IGCSE in 1992 at Rusinga School in Nairobi, when she left for the United Kingdom to pursue studies in fashion design. She received a BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) Diploma in fashion design in 1994 from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in England. Thereafter, she studied at the Kent Institute of Art and Design, from where she graduated with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in fashion design in 1996.
Upon completing her studies, Mbela came back to Kenya, where she became a Fashion Illustration lecturer at Evelyn College of Design in Nairobi. Between 1997 and 1998, she worked as a freelance fashion designer and the following year she established Native Essence Design Studio, where she worked as head designer until 2004 when the company was dissolved. During this period, she also worked as a corporate uniform designer at Crownrock Shield Uniforms in Nairobi in 2001 and as a fashion and textile designer for the Kenya Airways millennium uniform from 1999 to 2001. In 2004, Mbela started Agano Design Studio and served as CEO and head fashion designer until 2008. She began creating jewellery in 2003 as a form of therapy, and in 2010 she founded and became the CEO and head designer of POISA, known for its bold and stunning jewellery. As a result of her talent and dedication, Mbela has accumulated a wealth of experience in her line of work and has contributed immensely to the growth of the Kenyan fashion industry. From 1996 to 2003, she dressed all Kenyan entrants in the Miss World and Miss Malaika beauty pageants.
She has also dressed politicians, musicians and media personalities. She was selected as one of only nine designers chosen to de – sign the Kenyan national dress in 2004, and was a finalist in the professional category at the Smirnoff International Fashion Awards for three consecutive years (1998 to 2000). She was also one of two Kenyan designers chosen to style the finalists in the Nokia Face of Africa competition in 2005.
Mbela has received her fair share of fashion and design accolades. During the 2012 edition of Swahili Fashion Week, she was nominated East Africa’s Designer of the Year. In 2014, she was named Established Designer of the Year and in 2015, the Kenya Fashion Awards named her the top Kenyan fashion and jewellery designer. As a designer, Mbela has in the past raised concern about the lack of interest among Kenyans traditional dressing, and has decried the preference for Western clothing, calling it proof that colonialism had a great impact on the attitudes of Kenyans as a people. She has also asserted that the fashion industry in the country needs to grow because currently, a fashion designer such as herself cannot rely on catwalk style pieces to bring in a sustainable income, and instead is forced to make a living from jobs such as designing uniforms for corporate companies.
She urges Kenyans to embrace their culture and heritage and express this even in the way they dress. Mbela’s style has evolved to the point where she considers her designs to be wearable art. She is inspired by the rich beading culture in Kenya, apparent from her clothing and jewellery designs.
She continues to create beautiful pieces, drawing motivation from Africa and the diversity within the continent, and working towards taking Kenyan fashion abroad.