Real Homie says he had a following on Facebook since 2018 but TikTok has given him his breakthrough. PHOTOS | TONY MUSHOBOROZI
You have probably never heard of him because he literally just arrived on the scene but also probably because you are too busy chasing the paper. But you need a break once in a while. You need to smile and chill out before hitting the grinding stone again. And this young renegade fashion designer is the dose you need.
Just 24 years old, Henry Lubega, aka Real Homie, is an extraordinary talent. He is as passionate and skilled a fashion designer as he is a communicator and comedian.
Over the last one month, Lubega’s name has spread on social media like a wildfire because of his hilarious TikTok videos. He is so good at fashion that he breaks all the fashion rules in the most jaw-dropping manner possible. His mantra is keep fashion weird. But that is only part of his many talents. He is a bonafide comedian who makes practical jokes look so easy.
In his most popular video that has amassed more than 780k likes in one month, he gives fashion advice to anyone who might be on the way to attend customary inheritance rites. The joke is that even if you are not on the will, you may end up being chosen as the official heir if you follow his fashion advice. Then he goes on to dress up in the most comic manner possible that turns out to be as cute as it is hilarious.
In another video, he is seen advising Members of Parliament on how to dress appropriately for a plenary session. Let us just say, if an MP stood up to talk in that outfit, no one would hear a single word out of his mouth because of all the August mirth.
Lubega’s videos showcase his weird fashion sense, meticulous video editing, musical abilities and comedy. But it is his comedy that is probably most underrated. It is so deadpan that it looks as if he does not even know he is being funny. These complimentary talents have helped him capture the imagination of young people on social media and turned him into an overnight sensation.
Real Homie with Karole Kasita and Spice Diana. PHOTO/COURTESY/REAL HOMIE
Who is he?
True creativity comes from breaking rules but one must first master the rules before breaking them beautifully. This is exactly what Lubega does with his fashion, whether it is intentional or not. He just makes it look so easy, just like all highly-skilled people. You cannot be so good at breaking rules without being so good at the actual rules.
Lubega has 12 years of experience. He has been laser focused on fashion since he was 12. While in Senior Two at Masaka Senior School in 2016, a friend started showing him fashion pictures on the internet – Facebook particularly. Tight jeans were trendy at the time. Ye, formerly Kanye West, was the biggest name in the fashion zeitgeist of the time.
Lubega was hooked. He was inspired by the fashion sense of Kanye West and people such as Pharrell Williams. He never looked back.
“I started stitching up my uniform, modifying it. I would also help my friend stitch his up to make it fit tight. So whenever we walked together, we were very distinct and people liked how we looked. That is when all the students started asking me to stitch theirs too,” he says.
Overnight, Lubega transformed from a normal student who just wanted to dress eccentrically to an underground businessman in the school. He would use his hands and a needle to turn uniform trousers into pencil trousers. They had to fit tightly like those in the fashion pictures. Because that was the fashion of the time. The students loved his work so much that he turned into some sort of superstar in the school.
At some point, the trend became so widespread that almost every student had their trousers modified by Lubega. The workload became so heavy that he had to up his game. So he learnt to do it faster.
“I would find at least 20 trousers waiting for me on my decker every day. It was a business for me. It became big business for me. I charged Shs2,000 per trouser,” he says.
But therein lay a problem. It was a Muslim school and pencil trousers were not allowed. The headmaster started looking for the person responsible and his search led him to Lubega. He was promptly expelled from the school. He was is S3 and it was the second term.
He moved to Notre Dame High School in Masaka to complete his O-Level. But even here, he never stopped modifying trousers. In any case, his name was already known before he joined the school, so he became famous here too, but the school was not as conservative as the former, so they let him be.
However, when he moved to Bethel Covenant High School in Entebbe for Senior Five, they smelt his vibes at the gate and expelled him within weeks. In the middle of the first term to be precise. All because he could not keep his hands away from stitching.
“In a short while, the whole school knew me because of fashion. I was expelled in term one. I went back to the Notre Dame. They had been good to me,” he says.
When he completed his Form 6, he talked to his father and told him that he needed to join an institute of fashion and design. His father consented and enrolled him into Malaika Vocational Institute in Kamwokya.
He is currently doing a diploma but it has taken him much longer than the two years to complete. He is always busy. A lot of things are calling out to him. So he cannot settle.
“You know, the dream is very wide. I would be done with the diploma this year but it will not happen. But I am not missing out as I learn quickly. I teach myself most of the things because I research alot. I am at the school just for the certificate,” he says.
Blowing up on social media
Before he became famous on TikTok, Real Homie was popular on Facebook and Instagram.
“On Facebook I was hitting it very big a long time ago; in 2018 and 2019. I was famous. Look for Real Homie Quan on Facebook and you will see my posts with 10k even 20k likes,” he says.
He says the reason he has been struggling to reach a wider audience on Facebook and Instagram is because many young people do not care too much about those two platforms these days. This is the lesson that came live to him not long ago.
“The social media app for today is TikTok. That is where you have to hit it big. That is why many people did not know me until I blew up on TikTok,” he says.
Blowing up was not an accident. He had had a TikTok account since 2022. He had always posted videos of him designing and making clothes. But no one cared that much until he decided to switch up the game.
“Instead of showing myself making clothes, I started to show them how to dress. I got an idea of bringing out the art on TikTok. There are some Paris fashion designers I have been looking at, for example Vivian Westwood, Alexander Wang from Italy. I had been admiring their art, how they do their thing on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest and I have been researching for long.
“So, I decided to do the same this year. In May I boomed on TikTok because I started showing people how to dress. Then my TikToks started going viral,” he says.
How it is going
As soon as his TikTok took off, Lubega started getting jobs to promote perfumes, crossbags, shoes, etc. he has signed contracts with shoe retailers, people who sell sunglasses, and many others. But that is only a small part of what he does. His fame on TikTok came with many orders from fashion-savvy people, especially in showbiz.
“I have been designing artistes such as Spice Diana. I did the outfit she wore in her latest music video with Karole Kasita. I have designed Zex Bilangilangi in a yet to be released video. I have designed for Pinky, Nando Love … My work can be seen in Tom Dee’s Muzabibu video. And many other upcoming artistes,” he says.
About the wide pants
You may find it shocking that Real Homie’s really wide pants are not just for comic effect. These are very large pants that you would easily mistake for skirts. He calls them 20-inch pants. In reality, some of them are a lot wider than that. He believes that these are the defining designs of the moment.
“Extremely wide pants are trending now. So, for those of you who are not putting on the really wide pants and platform shoes, you are so off trend. You are still in 2017,” he says.
Clearly we did not get the memo that we should start dressing like the hippies from the 1970s. And true to his beliefs, he is wearing massive platform shoes and wide pants for the interview.
About the Kiwoowo
One thing that is truly emphasised in Lubega’s fashion videos is the perfumes, which he comically calls ‘kiwoowo’. You may assume that he is just advertising perfumes but to him, perfume is as part of fashion. Walking out of the house without perfume is akin to walking out without pants.
Burnt fingers trying to go big
This year found Real Homie jittery. He needed to announce his presence in a big way and the only way he could figure was to stage a fashion show. He sold his sewing machines and topped up on his savings and invested all the money in the event that happened on February 3 this year. The money went into the venue, the videography, the models and other expenses. But the show flopped and he lost money.
However, that did not deter him. He went back to the drawing board. Other than switching up his game on TikTok to reach a wider audience, Lubega started trading in already-made trendy designs. And if you know Kampala well, there is no better place to find cool designs than Owino Market.
“I go to Owino in the mornings and choose clothes that are trending, because I keep up with the trends . I take pictures of them and post them on my Instagram. People call me asking for prices and if they make the payment, I send them the clothes. If I must do any modifications, there is a place I go and pay for time to use the sewing machine,” he says.
Real Homie is his own model. What he wears is what his customers buy. This is how he makes his living for the meantime as he waits to repurchase sewing machines. His wild-fire fame on TikTok has helped his second-hand clothes business. He sends his clothes to Dubai, Kasese, even Masaka.
“People love my outfits. I mostly make deliveries to Kasese. Dubai is my biggest second market,” he says.
Aspiration
He has already dressed big stars in Kampala. And more are still coming to him. But the one big star on his radar is Nigerian super star, Wizkid. And if you have seen the ritz on this kid, it may happen sooner than later.
