When Jihan Dimack and Rosemary Uisso step onto international beauty pageant stages in Thailand, their national costumes tell stories of Tanzania’s beauty and cultural heritage.
But behind the colours, intricate details and applause is Ramadhan Shagile alias Romy Jay, a Tanzanian designer whose imagination helps bring these stories to life.
As Tanzania celebrates Jihan’s Miss Grand International victory and Rosemary’s Best National Costume award at Miss Global, Romy has his own reasons to smile.
His journey from modelling to costume design shows how creativity can take local stories beyond the country’s borders.
You may not know his face, but his work is hard to miss.
Jihan’s costume celebrates Tanzania’s wildlife, landscapes and cultural heritage, while Rosemary’s award-winning outfit draws inspiration from the country’s tourism attractions, tribal history and identity.
Both creations reflect Romy’s belief that national costumes should do more than impress judges; they should introduce audiences to the country they represent.
For him, every design begins with a story. Turning that story into an outfit, however, requires research, imagination, technical skill and plenty of patience.
From the runway to the drawing board
Romy’s journey into fashion begins in 2015, when he participates in different fashion shows as a model. The experience introduces him to the industry and gradually sparks a passion that eventually takes him behind the scenes.
‘My love for fashion started when I was a model. I participated in different fashion shows, and that is where my passion for the industry grew, he tells The Beat.
His career takes a new direction after the Covid-19 pandemic, when he releases his first collection, African Beauty.
The collection marks the beginning of his journey into costume design, allowing him to combine fashion with his interest in Tanzania’s culture and heritage.
Over time, he works with beauty queens preparing to represent the country internationally, gaining opportunities to showcase his creativity on a bigger stage.
Each assignment presents a fresh challenge, finding a distinctive idea that celebrates Tanzania while meeting the expectations of an international competition.
‘I know my country very well, but I still spend time researching new things before presenting an idea. I always make sure I have enough information about Tanzania’s tourism attractions and cultural heritage,’ he says.
The vision behind Jihan’s costume
When Romy got the opportunity to work on Jihan’s national costume, he looked beyond the familiar images of Tanzania’s wildlife and landscapes. ‘I have showcased many tourist attractions through costumes worn by contestants at international competitions. For Jihan, I decided to focus on Maasai history and the beaches of Zanzibar,’ he explains.
The concept develops through discussions with Jihan’s management team.
Romy created the original idea and sketches, while Thailand-based designer Akarach Phusanaphong, popularly known as Artkarachi, produced the outfit.
The process is demanding, with Romy expected to spend a month in Thailand working on the costume.
His ambition is to bring Tanzania’s attractions to life through three-dimensional structures rather than simply decorating the outfit with pictures. He imagines Zanzibar’s traditional houses and Maasai cultural elements taking physical form, giving the audience something memorable to admire.
‘At international competitions, you are expected to show the beauty of your country or tell a story through your costume. But the stage is also about entertainment, so the costume must entertain the audience,’ he says.
However, some of his original ideas do not fully materialise in the finished design. Although Jihan’s costume attracts attention, it does not win the Best National Costume award.
‘I feel that may be one of the reasons the costume did not win. The idea was good, but I believe the final design did not fully bring out the creativity I had imagined,’ he says.
The experience teaches him an important lesson, a strong concept needs to survive every stage of production to achieve the designer’s original vision.
The costume that almost never makes it
Rosemary’s costume brings a different challenge, testing Romy’s patience and problem-solving skills.
This time, he wanted to explore more of Tanzania’s tourism attractions and tribal history, including inspiration from Tabora.
The original plan involved sending the sketches abroad for production, but complications forced the team to change direction and make the outfit locally.
With deadlines approaching, Romy found ways to turn the concept into a finished costume and ensure it reaches Thailand safely.
Even packing becomes a task of its own, as the detailed outfit must fit into a suitcase without damaging its distinctive features.
‘I spent days and nights thinking about what to do and how to make everything work,’ he recalls.
Unlike Jihan’s costume, the project receives no assistance from an overseas designer.
The team must find its own solutions, making the eventual victory particularly meaningful.
‘We did not have help from another designer, but I thank God everything worked out. In the end, we won the Best National Costume award at the international level,’ he says. What begins as a stressful assignment becomes one of his proudest moments, demonstrating that Tanzanian designers can produce work capable of earning international recognition.
Taking Tanzanian creativity further
For Romy, the difference between an attractive costume and a memorable one lies in the story it tells.
Countries compete not only through elaborate structures and expensive materials but also through the originality and authenticity of their ideas. ‘It is not easy for a country like Tanzania to become one of the winners at international competitions,’ he says, pointing to differences in resources and technical capacity.
Yet he believes Tanzania’s cultural diversity provides a strong foundation for designers willing to experiment and develop their skills.
His ambition extends beyond personal recognition. He wants to see more Tanzanian designers take responsibility for producing the costumes that represent their country, rather than depending on foreign expertise to complete their ideas.
‘These international platforms require skills. There is no magic involved. Designers in Tanzania need to keep improving themselves,’ he says.