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A Bride & Groom Expo 17 years ago
And the first few editions of the B&G Expo largely followed that model, including the glitz and glamour that comes with fashion events. That included the gala dinners, which kicked off the weekend.
Keturah Kamugasa (left), Robert Kabushenga (second-left) and Kalungi (right) at the 2009 Bride & Groom Expo preparations. (Kalungi Kabuye)
By: Kalungi Kabuye, Journalist @New Vision
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WHAT’S UP!
Strange, but the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the first-ever Bride & Groom Expo is the rain. The first event that kicked off what would become the region’s largest and most consistent bridal expo was a gala night, held inside a large marquee where a parking lot is now.
The Uganda Manufacturers’ Association Showgrounds looked very different in 2009. The multi-purpose hall, which has become a mainstay of the Expo, had not yet been built; the much smaller one was where most of the action used to be. That is where the stalls were; I do not remember how many they were, but it was a novelty of sorts, nothing like it had happened before. And in 2009, not many Ugandans were as entrepreneurial as they are now. But a few brave souls bought the stalls.
2009 was a threshold year for Ugandan fashion in many ways. Four years previously, in 2005, I attended the Kenya Fashion Week in Nairobi, which was organised by folks I had met during the Face of Africa modelling search. The hit of the show was Sylvia Owori, whose interpretation of African wear was celebrated as a breakthrough in East African fashion design. Daily Nation columnist Charles Onyango Obbo dedicated his column that week to her creations, which were a welcome break from what he famously called typical Meet My Wife African designs.
But sitting quietly among the audience was another Ugandan fashion designer, Santa Anzo. While Sylvia basked in the limelight of her creations, Santa was thinking of another creation. A year later, she launched the Ugandan Fashion Week. It was probably a rushed venture, and she did not have enough preparations of wherewithal to pull off a really successful one, so after two editions, she took a break.
Around the same time, the then sales and marketing manager of Vision Group, Tony Glencross, came up with an idea of an expo to go along with the very popular Bride & Groom Magazine. By that time, I was already a ‘veteran’ fashion photographer, had been part of the Face of Africa scene for over a decade, had won several awards and had been to the New York Fashion Week.
So, it made sense to merge the idea of an expo and a fashion week. Hence, the Bride & Groom Expo was conceived. A fashion week typically revolves around the runway and all the different designs showcased by different designers. Almost as a by the-way is a ‘fashion village’, where designers offer ‘off the rack’ versions of their outfits for sale, usually at a discounted rate. And everything typically happened over three days, usually over a weekend (do not ask me why it is referred to as a ‘week’).
And the first few editions of the B&G Expo largely followed that model, including the glitz and glamour that comes with fashion events. That included the gala dinners, which kicked off the weekend.
Which brings me back to that first night and the rain. Because it rained, very heavy rain. In 2009, they had just started to put tarmac along the roads in the showgrounds. The marquee that would house the fashions show and the gala dinner was on top of grass and bare ground.
But sitting quietly among the audience was another Ugandan fashion designer, Santa Anzo. While Sylvia basked in the limelight of her creations, Santa was thinking of another creation. A year later, she launched the Ugandan Fashion Week. It was probably a rushed venture, and she did not have enough preparations of wherewithal to pull off a really successful one, so after two editions, she took a break.
Around the same time, the then sales and marketing manager of Vision Group, Tony Glencross, came up with an idea of an expo to go along with the very popular Bride & Groom Magazine. By that time, I was already a ‘veteran’ fashion photographer, had been part of the Face of Africa scene for over a decade, had won several awards and had been to the New York Fashion Week.
So, it made sense to merge the idea of an expo and a fashion week. Hence, the Bride & Groom Expo was conceived. A fashion week typically revolves around the runway and all the different designs showcased by different designers. Almost as a by the-way is a ‘fashion village’, where designers offer ‘off the rack’ versions of their outfits for sale, usually at a discounted rate. And everything typically happened over three days, usually over a weekend (do not ask me why it is referred to as a ‘week’).
And the first few editions of the B&G Expo largely followed that model, including the glitz and glamour that comes with fashion events. That included the gala dinners, which kicked off the weekend.
Which brings me back to that first night and the rain. Because it rained, very heavy rain. In 2009, they had just started to put tarmac along the roads in the showgrounds. The marquee that would house the fashions show and the gala dinner was on top of grass and bare ground.
So, when it rained, most of it turned into mud. And we had to put a red carpet over it. And getting the red carpet was also a trick. The plan was to have it from the place where cars would drop off guests to the entrance to the marquee, a distance of about 50 metres. But we could not find a red carpet that long in the whole of Kampala.
In 2009, those things of having a red carpet were seen as kajanja, so event organisers did not stock them. Eventually, we got bits and pieces from different places, but we could not quite make 50m. So quite a few stilettos sank in the mud where the red carpet stopped.
But all is well that ends well, and the night was a great success. Apart from the only time Face of Africa actually held a fashion show in Kampala in 1997 (and that was for a select few), no one had seen anything like this. The fashion shows were free entry, and the crowds flocked to them. People came for the fashion shows and then went to check out the stalls in the exhibition halls.
The gala night would be held again the next year, this time at Hotel Africana. But that was the last one, it was judged too expensive and without sufficient return on the cost. Sadly, most of the glitz and glamour went with it. But the fashion shows remained, and for many years, the only place to see real fashion shows was at the Bride & Groom Expo. In fact, the last ‘fashion week’ in Kampala was held in 2019, before COVID-19. But the B&G Expo still happened.
I have attended and photographed all the expos from 2009, till about 2019, after which I decided to take a break. Over the years, different people have organised the expo and they have all added to the height of the shoulders those who come after them will climb on.
Many of the people who were there at the beginning are not any more. Keturah Kamugasa is in a better world than this and Glencross is probably back somewhere in Durban having a Guinness. Barbara Kaija is still around, overseeing everything, but this will probably be her last one.
I will also be there this weekend, picking up my camera after a six-year sabbatical. All is well, that ends well.
In 2009, those things of having a red carpet were seen as kajanja, so event organisers did not stock them. Eventually, we got bits and pieces from different places, but we could not quite make 50m. So quite a few stilettos sank in the mud where the red carpet stopped.
But all is well that ends well, and the night was a great success. Apart from the only time Face of Africa actually held a fashion show in Kampala in 1997 (and that was for a select few), no one had seen anything like this. The fashion shows were free entry, and the crowds flocked to them. People came for the fashion shows and then went to check out the stalls in the exhibition halls.
The gala night would be held again the next year, this time at Hotel Africana. But that was the last one, it was judged too expensive and without sufficient return on the cost. Sadly, most of the glitz and glamour went with it. But the fashion shows remained, and for many years, the only place to see real fashion shows was at the Bride & Groom Expo. In fact, the last ‘fashion week’ in Kampala was held in 2019, before COVID-19. But the B&G Expo still happened.
I have attended and photographed all the expos from 2009, till about 2019, after which I decided to take a break. Over the years, different people have organised the expo and they have all added to the height of the shoulders those who come after them will climb on.
Many of the people who were there at the beginning are not any more. Keturah Kamugasa is in a better world than this and Glencross is probably back somewhere in Durban having a Guinness. Barbara Kaija is still around, overseeing everything, but this will probably be her last one.
I will also be there this weekend, picking up my camera after a six-year sabbatical. All is well, that ends well.