Who are you wearing?
It is a common question on red carpets during major shows such as award shows, dinners and premieres.
Of course, on E’s Live From the Red Carpet, guests easily say something like Louis Vuitton, Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, and Karl Lagerfeld, among others.
Over the years, as Ugandans started taking fashion at events seriously, the question started showing up: “Who are you wearing?”
Most Ugandan stars would then talk about those same international designers or simply mention the famous cities they shipped the dress from. It was almost the order of the day.
Of course, the local fashion industry later evolved, but it was still a secret society, seen on TV, news and magazines, but not very many people knew somebody who knew somebody that could afford local designers’ outfits.
And that’s where Ekikumba Fusion’s story starts.
In a city where fashion had been framed as exclusive, expensive and out of reach, Joel Okalani and his collective, Ekikumba Fusion, decided to build something radically different: a movement that treats style not as luxury, but as identity, community and everyday expression.
Born out of Kampala’s evolving youth culture, Ekikumba Fusion is more than a fashion platform. It is a convergence point where thrift meets high fashion, where “Owino” garments are reworked into statement pieces, and where music, beach culture and visual storytelling collide. But at its core is a clear philosophy: fashion should be accessible, collaborative and rooted in African identity.
In a well lit ware house, Okalani, as he adjusts one of the vast electronic sewing machines in the room, he says that he sees today’s African fashion scene as a rebirth driven by young people and digital platforms. Where earlier generations struggled with limited tools, weak collaboration and an overreliance on Western imitation, a new wave is redefining fashion through authenticity.
“The African fashion industry is still very valid, especially now that there are many young people into the space and of course, the growth of social media,” he says.
For him, the shift is fundamental: African fashion is no longer about copying global trends, but about expressing identity. What people wear, he believes, has become a cultural language that travels beyond borders more easily than speech.
“Fashion is one of the few things that connects us without limits,” his thinking suggests. “It carries culture across borders in a way language cannot.”
This belief sits at the heart of Ekikumba Fusion’s work, positioning fashion as both a cultural marker and a unifying force across Africa’s diverse identities.
Democratizing style in Uganda
A key problem the collective set out to solve is access. As said earlier, for years, locally made fashion was priced and positioned for a small, affluent class, leaving the majority, especially young people, locked out.
“The fashion industry before us had its challenges, they lacked access to the right tools and probably did not collaborate a lot. So the cost of prodction was high which in-turn affected the price. Their works were very expensive and just a handful of classy people could afford it. Yet, that class of people or small group of people are not the biggest representation of the whole country,” he says.
Ekikumba Fusion challenges that model by embracing thrift culture and innovation, which Okalani also notes is more climate friendly. They rework second-hand clothing into fresh, desirable pieces. By doing so, they lower production costs while maintaining creativity.
The result is fashion that is both affordable and expressive.
But beyond price, Okalani argues the real barrier has been mindset.
Ugandan consumers, he says, have long been conditioned to see local fashion as either too expensive or less valuable. While he also notes that on the other hand, Ugandans were conditioned to appreciate everything coming from abroad, even when it was second hand, more like, UK used.
“Ugandans have been told for a long time that they don’t deserve good things. If you have noticed, there was a time when the narrative was; second hand clothes are better than new ones, like…..they are second hand, they have already depreciated,” he says.
Changing that perception requires not just products, but experiences, platforms that show people what is possible.
That is why Ekikumba Fusion invests heavily in presentation. From curated events to visually striking showcases, they lean into what Okalani describes as the “halo effect”, the idea that people assign value based on appearance. If fashion is presented powerfully, it reshapes how audiences perceive both the product and the creators behind it.
Ekikumba Fusion is intentionally collective. With hundreds of designers, models and creatives on its platform, it operates less like a brand and more like an ecosystem.
Okalani describes it as a “cultural activation movement” one that brings together designers, musicians, photographers, stylists and audiences into a shared creative space.
The goal is simple but ambitious: break silos and encourage collaboration across disciplines. In doing so, they are not just showcasing fashion, but building a community where creativity feeds into creativity.
For a country where over 70% of the population is youth, this approach taps into a generation searching for belonging, expression and opportunity.
Taking Kampala to a continental stage
That vision now expands beyond Uganda as Ekikumba Fusion prepares to showcase at the Johnnie Walker Afro Exchange.
The Johnnie Walker Afro Exchange is a pan-African cultural platform and movement designed to connect and celebrate Africa’s creative industries. It functions as a bridge for musicians, fashion designers, artists, and digital storytellers to collaborate across borders. It aims to move the continent away from fragmented creative scenes toward a more unified cultural economy.
At the core of the Johnnie Walker Afro Exchange are disciplines; art, music, and fashion, for instance, Young Stunna will be the visiting artist from South Africa, visual art will plug into with a paint and sip session while fashion will join the party thanks to Ekikumba Fusion.
For Ekikumba Fusion, this is both validation and opportunity.
At the Afro Exchange, their showcase will explore multiple design directions. One leans into avant-garde street-wear, constructed from recycled textiles and industrial silhouettes, echoing their commitment to reworked materials. Another ventures into Afro-futurism, blending metallic accents with traditional bead-work to imagine African fashion beyond the present. A third grounds itself in bespoke Ugandan craftsmanship, translating heritage into contemporary tailoring.
Rather than simply presenting finished garments, they intend to demonstrate the entire creative process, from sourcing materials in local markets to collaborative production, showing that African fashion innovation can be built from the ground up.
They are also working with musicians and cultural influencers to amplify the movement, using artists as ambassadors whose personal style becomes part of the storytelling.
For instance, at the moment, Okalani says that they have already worked with Elijah Kitaka, especially for their street wear; they have designed some his outfits and to their advantage, he says that Kitaka shares their phylosophy of giving older clothes a new life.
“You’ve seen how he goes, looks for those old things. Then he adds value to it…!It’s like, rather than just being discarded, can we remodel it and make sure someone else can buy it?”
Fashion as culture, not just clothing
At its heart, Ekikumba Fusion’s work is about repositioning fashion, from niche showcases to mainstream cultural infrastructure.
It is about turning everyday dressing into a tool for confidence, identity and opportunity. About proving that creativity can thrive within local realities. And about showing that African fashion does not need validation from elsewhere to be meaningful.
In Okalani’s vision, the future of fashion in Uganda, and across Africa, is not defined by exclusivity, but by participation.
A future where what people wear is not just about looking good, but about belonging to something bigger.
