Photo: Canva
“I felt like I deserved to be seen... I didn’t come to just stand here.”
During the Nairobi Fashion Week, an unscheduled moment became the talk of the event. Halina Khumba, the founder of Khumba Couture, attended as a guest but, upon arrival, found there was no assigned seat for her.
Standing at the venue in a couture piece from her own Dragon Scale’s Collection, she felt a mix of frustration and resolve. She made a spontaneous, daunting decision. “At first I was scared,” she admitted, “but then I looked at the people watching the show and they were all eager to see something they haven’t yet seen before.”
In that moment, she saw not just an audience, but an opportunity—a classic innovator's insight. She gathered her courage, stepped onto the runway, and walked.
Photo by Daniel Kempf-Seifried
The moment was captured from multiple angles. Fashion photographer Daniel Kempf-Seifried documented it from the media pit, while Halina’s personal photographer, @Shot_by_Shawn, captured her decisive walk from a unique perspective. Shawn’s immediate posts to his Instagram stories helped the moment begin to ripple beyond the venue in real time. Daniel’s professional photo was then shared in the event's private WhatsApp group for accredited media, sparking an official discussion to identify the impressive, unlisted "model." The search quickly revealed Halina as both the designer and the wearer.
Halina Khumba’s action underscores a powerful truth: opportunity isn't always given; sometimes it's taken. Her journey from a standing guest to the runway’s highlight, driven by her motto “Keep moving forward,” was more than a spontaneous walk. It was a decisive brand statement, proving that courage and vision are the ultimate strategy for rewriting your own narrative.
More from Nairobi Fashion Week: Backstage Diaries
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