‘an afternoon with…’ Edwin (Motley Minds)

“

My older brother is seven years older than me, so growing up,

I used to always try and keep up with him.

He was good at drawing, he was really smart, like school smart.

I drew so much so that I could be like him.

I remember this one time—my mum was in the UK

actually, for a while, for like five years—and we stayed here.

She sent two shirts, flannel shirts, but they were different colours,

and I cried so much because I loved his shirt more than mine.

That’s when I promised myself that one day

I’d grow up and make clothes so that I can wear everything I want.

I think I was like six at that point.

That was when the fashion thing came in.

Through school, I was really just good at painting and drawing because

I went through it as a young kid, trying to keep up with my older brother.

So, after a while, doing very well in art school,

I was like, “Yeah, I’m going to do fashion.”

Everybody was like, “No! Don’t do that… You know you can be a lawyer,”

because I was good at history, and I was like, “Nah, I’m sorry.”

You asked me, how is it appreciated here (Uganda)?

It’s not. I just had to train them to appreciate it.

I lost my cousin to suicide in 2021.

It was so sad, a very sad time in my life.

I went through a deep dive, a rabbit hole of reading about psychology

and wanting to understand what happened.

Imagine if he could just talk to me, and everything would be okay.

That’s when I realised you can never not be

your full self around the people you love.

You have to show them fully, you have to be honest, you have to be truthful.

And in the African community, you can’t have this hair.

So, I was like, “Mum, I'm going to braid my hair.” And I did!

And she was like, “Cut that off!” And I was like,

“You’re my mother, but you’re going to deal with me and this hair…”

My cousin was living in the UK, so my aunt (his mother) came back to Uganda,

and she saw me with long hair, and she was so happy.

She said, “I like the fact that you’re living your truth.”

And she said, “I miss your cousin, but I want you to have a life that you fight for,

that is worth fighting for. Enjoy it, love it, and never ever hold yourself back

from anything you want to do, whether you have support or not.

There are eight billion people in the world, there are people out there

that are going to appreciate you and everything you do.”

That just flipped a switch. I was like,

“Yes, let’s go!” It really rang in my head for a while.

Around 2022, I got a job in fashion. I got really good at it.

I served, I did my best for like one and a half years,

and then I got this opportunity to do a fashion show.

And I was like, “Yeah, I’m taking a leap.”

For like three months straight, I worked and worked.

I did my first fashion show, and oh my god,

that was the happiest moment of my life! I was literally

shaking when I was walking to give the bow. I was so happy.

After that, I couldn’t work full-time anymore.

So, I told my boss, “I’m gonna work part-time. I’m gonna show up

three days a week and try to help you with whatever I can.”

Of course, the dynamics kept changing because once

it starts, there’s more to come.

“Hey, you can do this, we saw you do that, so you can do this.”

The second show wasn’t that nice.

I think I raised my bar too high, and I didn’t outperform myself.

I kind of feel disappointed, but I’m glad I did it because

I challenged myself through the anxiety and all that.

I learned a lot from that experience.

One day, Deborah (a friend) said to me,

“Why don’t you sign up for this Nyege Nyege (Festival) thing?”

And I was like, “Nah! I’m too shy, and I’m stressed about my work.”

I looked at this Nyege Nyege application,

and I looked at everything I had to do at work for those three days,

and I called my boss and I was like,

“...I think I quit.”

I started pushing for the Nyege Nyege thing. Slowly by slowly,

I did a few pieces, and the feedback was amazing.

I was so anxious about it, but everybody seemed to appreciate everything I did.

What’s funny is, I was actually two days late to show up at the venue.

And when I showed up—this is what’s funny—

I was with my girlfriend, we’re chilling, and she was like,

“Okay, we got the racks, so you just have to go and set up the shop.

So, I woke up earlier than her. I got to the venue,

and there were two venues—one in the front and one in the back.

The back was the shop, and the front side was like the exhibition.

So, I only set up the exhibition.

There was a bar there, and I just sat there and started chilling

with some guy called Jacob, he’s from America,

and we just started talking, and we talked for like two hours!

Then my girl shows up, and she’s like, “So, did you set up the shop?...”

And I’m like, “...What shop?” And she’s like,

“Yo! We paid money for a rack, a table, and there’s a shop!”

So, I show up at the shop like six hours late.

Everybody’s set up! We rush everything, we set up, and…

I think I made more sales than anybody else. And I was late! And I was like,

“Man, this is crazy. The universe is trying to speak to me—to keep pushing this.”

Why denim? I had a lot of denim. I wear a lot of denim,

but I’ve cut a lot of it over the years.

And because of the colour blue—

it represents hope, and it represents sadness.

For me, it’s mostly about the strips more than the colour.

When you join small things together, with all our differences,

it makes something stronger—like a community.

And that’s why I use the strips, because I’m just creating a cloak,

a community around me, around everybody who appreciates it.

I always make the strips eight, because eight is the number of infinity and

I feel like a community or society has to be infinite.

People never get to know the deep extent of what it means

because they just see, “Ah, pretty!” But it means a lot.

I don’t want to stop using the strips; I just have to find ways of using

them differently so that it keeps on being interesting.

Oh, it’s also a very strong fabric, so it also represents strength!

…Yeah, of course, I have (people that inspire me).

I always debate with people who use the term “authentic”

because I don’t believe authenticity is still a thing.

We’ve mixed up a lot in terms of even culture to say the word authentic.

So, I would say I love the works of Rick Owens,

Raf Simons, Heron Preston, Christian Dior.

And I’m talking about the OGs, yeah—Alexander McQueen.

Those are people that have inspired me to keep going.

Mowalola—she’s from the UK.

I like her work, it’s just crazy, and she doesn’t give a damn!

Also, Demna, Balenciaga.

...Yeah, those are my inspirations.

What words of wisdom/advice would

twenty-four-year-old Edwin say to six-year-old Edwin?

…Relax. You’re where you have to be.

Everything that’s going on has to go on,

but it’s part of something bigger, so enjoy the journey.

But mostly, relax.

I think I panicked a lot when I was younger about a lot of things,

and I shouldn’t have.

What are your hopes for the future?

Where would you like to see yourself in the next five years?

I’d love to see my work appreciated on a larger scale,

in bigger spaces where people appreciate it more.

I’d love to see myself at London Fashion Week, Berlin Fashion Week—

I don’t know why, but I think a lot about Berlin Fashion Week these days.

I want to see growth in a community of young’uns who are doing

creative stuff, having the knowledge they need to have,

and having better role models.

Also, having the knowledge and wisdom to learn from the anti-role models,

which I think is really important.

Anti-role models—the bullies, the people that tell you,

“You can’t do this.”

It’s all about the wisdom of understanding that,

“Oh, I know they’re not my role models, but they do mean something to me.

If they tell me that I can’t do it, and I do it… that means something.”

...That’s where I would want to see myself in the next five years.

“