Esperance Tabisha is the owner and of Esperanza Fashion and Design fashion brand that makes made-to-measure African inspired clothes for families.
Esperance studied fashion in her home country Congo as fashion has been her passion since childhood. She had to relocate to Kenya as a refugee due to conflict in her home country and had been based in Kakuma refugee camp for 7 years until she got an opportunity to move overseas.

What drives her to keep going?
Fashion is her passion and her tool to express her feelings, ideas, and creativity and loves working with color and print.
Esperance’ husband is a great source of motivation and is one of her biggest cheerleaders is her biggest inspiration and always encourages her to pursue her passion even more.
She has also been privileged to have an amazing mentor, the well-known designer based in Kenya called Ann McCreath owner of the Kiko Romeo who has been very instrumental in supporting and guiding her through her career as a fashion designer.
She is determined to build her brand to go global and ensures she takes advantage of every opportunity that would make that happen.

What legacy/mark does she want her work to leave?
Esperanza Fashion and design is a brand that celebrates family unity and togetherness which was motivated by Esperance’s personal life experiences. She wants her brand to live on as a reminder of the importance of family.

Follow Esperance Tabisha’s work on her Website, Instagram page, and Facebook.

See the full list of 21 African Women Channeling New Narratives In The Creative Industry.

Lorna Abwonji is Head Designer/Creative Director at Mia Mara Creations.
She is the Project manager at Dress Up Kenya. RAFDA 2008 Finalist & FA254 Finalist 2014.

Lorna is a 2016 YALI Mandela Washington Fellow.