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Mwangi's brightly coloured suits and hats made
him stand out even on the busy streets of Nairobi's Umoja
neighbourhood, where nobody ever seems to sleep.
Since the pandemic hit and Kenya made face masks mandatory, his
outfits have become even more eye-catching. This week, the
59-year-old jack of all trades modelled his collection of face
masks for Reuters.
"Men knew how to wear clothes in black, brown, grey or dark
blue. Those were men's colours," he told Reuters while wearing a
bright yellow suit with matching hat and face mask. "God gave me
wisdom and showed me all the different colours I can wear to be
different from everybody else."
Mwangi, who dropped out of school at 12 because he could not pay
the fees, said he only had one shirt when he was a child, which
he would wash it daily and put on still damp.
People would laugh at him, but he promised himself that "one day
I will be a star."
He now has about 160 suits, over 200 pairs of shoes, and 300
hats in colours ranging from saffron yellow to grass green,
scarlet and plum. Mwangi said his clothes drew curiosity, then
admirers when he first started wearing them 25 years ago.
"Now you can see me wearing all kinds of colours," he said.
Mwangi, who earns a living as a jack of all trades, says he
lends his suits to members of his church and street children who
need them.
"Things have become harder now because of COVID-19. This country
has no money," he said.
(This story corrects to remove extraneous words in paragraph
five)
(Writing by Omar Mohammed; Editing by Katharine Houreld and
Raissa Kasolowsky)
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