Asyakhamsin has been in fashion for more than 40 years, and is renowned both in her home country of Tanzania, and among the Diaspora here. She was born on Zanzibar, introduced high fashion to the interior, and founded a major boutique in the capital (Dar es-Salaam).

 

She is fêted by top officials, including through the Tanzanian Embassy. Even the embassy of neighboring Kenya celebrates her. She has won numerous awards in Africa – including one recognizing her as the “Mother of Fashion.” She mentors young designers both in Tanzania and America. 

 

A mother of four, and now a grandmother, Asyakhamsin remarried and followed her new husband to America. She had to start from scratch in a totally unfamiliar land. She has not retired, but instead developed a nation-wide series of trunk shows from her home base in Houston.

 

Asyakhamsin’s work is almost entirely custom, although she works with jewelry designers and East African fabric and print merchants. She is extremely versatile, with work ranging from traditional kanga outfits, to “modesty” dress, to Western-style cocktail dresses and jewelry.