Young at heart and creative, ally is one of the upcoming fashion designers of Tanzania. There was a time where the arena was dominated by "so called" designers but with the emergence of this new blood, new talent, everything is changing for the development and betterment of the fashion industry of Tanzania.
Ali Rehmtullah
Ever since he was a child he was always in love with drawing, painting and using colors as his daily playing elements. Ally had a dream to be a fashion designer, and after a lot of hard work, he achieved his goals and is now starting his career in the fashion industry.
Allys fashion talents are like the unique Tanzanian art of “Makonde” carvings. His creations are a blend of wearable garments which are in the true sense a combination cultures, styles and fabrics. Ally is a Tanzanian, born and raised within Indian ethnicity. The opportunity to go to the west to obtain his degree made him knowledgeable of all three different parts of the world, thus the ability to create designs with inspiration from all the cultures.
Different colors in the nature inspire Ally to create his designs, he also gets inspiration from his fellow colleagues who have been in the industry for a long time.
Being in the industry for just three months has been quite challenging. Introducing himself to the vast Tanzanian market is hard work but quite rewarding. The industry has been very welcoming and people have responded to his designs with a very positive attitude
Early November Ally had his first photoshoot contract with Dollywood Modelling Agency in Dar es Salaam . That was the first outburst and exposé, of his designs to the Tanzanian Public. A success to say the least.
Ally has had the chance to design to participate in the Redd's African Fashion Design Awards (RAFDA) in December 2006 by designing a fabulous evening gown for the master of ceremony Jokate Mwengelo who is also the Redd's Ambassador of the Year.
On the 25 th of December of 2006 Ally had his first exhibition for the Smiling Face Entertainment's “Tanzanian Supermodel of the Year Competition” event. The audience loved his designs.
Within the past three years, a new face has emerged! Ally Rehmtullah, a man who is significantly changing the direction and style of the Tanzanian fashion industry. Fashion, once a myth in the Tanzanian market, is now a prominent aspect of our daily lives – and Ally has played a role in this change.
Ally Rehmtullah personifies what fashion is about. His style for he embodies the life and becomes the creation that yields the fashion statements. If you have never met him before, Ally is a walking mannequin; it's no wonder why he has managed to dress the Dar-es-Salaam's finest icons.
In 2002, Ally moved to the states to study graphic design. Little did he know, he was always meant to be a fashion designer. Ally said, “I used to love watching the fashion students do their pieces. I watched them get their degree and at that point I realized, I wanted to do what they were doing.” Ally immediately enrolled in the Baum School of Art at Lehigh College in Pennsylvania, from where he graduated.
Today, Ally brings together his qualifications and natural talent to create the Ally Rehmtullah fashion line, a tag that is classic yet edgy, eccentric yet feminine, trendy yet innovative, daring yet alluring.
The mark of a good designer is being limitless, and Ally fully embodies this quality. “I don’t limit myself to a particular set of fabrics or colours, I like working with different mediums from satin to organza. I am a colourist I love all colours.”
After three years of working in the industry, Ally has adopted a work process that best suits him. “I start off with sketching a design by hand – than converting it into a computer image where I can manipulate the colours on it and see what works best – from there I go material shopping to look for the best fabric for a particular design. Once I have the fabric ready I start with creating the pattern for it and briefing my staff about it and they take it from there to producing the final product where I come in again to make sure its produced to perfection and the standard that I am satisfied with.”
Despite being in the scene for a short while, Ally has built up an impressive list of achievements.
In November 2006 Ally had his first photo shoot contract with Dollywood Modeling Agency in Dar es Salaam. That was the first outburst and exposé of his designs to the Tanzanian public.
In May 2007, Ally Rehmtullah launched his first collection in Dar es Salaam at the Moevenpick Hotel. After that there was no going back for Ally.
In that’s not enough, on September 17th 2008, Ally was invited to showcase his new African Couture Collection at the London Fashion Week – being the first East African Designer to reach such great heights. “That was a big accomplishment for me. It took a lot of hard work and it was a great success from the turn out of people to their comments. Ally Rehmtullah took fashion in Tanzania to a much higher level.
In November 2008, Ally dressed the Face of Africa girls during the Swahili Fashion Week and Ally was also the curtain raiser for this big platform.
Ally has travelled to Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and UK to showcase his work and before the end of this year he is going to showcase in Ivory Coast and Tunisia.
Big Dreams, Big Accomplishments.
For more information
visit his website www.allyzdesigns.com
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