When Kenyan designer Bray Okut sent a direct message to Raila Odinga in September 2017, his dream was simple but heartfelt, to handle the wardrobe of the man he had admired all his life. Raila Odinga: Nairobi Stylist Recounts 8-Year Unfulfilled Dream of Designing Baba’s Wardrobe In a heartfelt post on Facebook, Bray shared a screenshot of a message he sent the former prime minister expressing his burning desire to handle his rerun campaign wardrobe. He disclosed that since he was born in an Odinga household, being a Baba supporter was not by choice, it was destiny.
From his small fashion studio in Nairobi, Bray had long followed the ODM leader’s style and studied every shirt, coat, and cap in a bid to dissect his wardrobe choices. “Sometimes I’d see an outfit and say, ‘Hii imevaa Baba vizuri,’ other times, ‘Hii imeuma nje,’” he recalled with a laugh. In 2022, a friend connected Bray to someone close to Odinga’s team where a meeting was organised at Capitol Hill for him to pitch his designs. Bray’s first attempt at dressing Raila Bray says he put on one of his finest suits, a royal blue masterpiece he hoped would speak before he did. But when they arrived, Baba was unavailable and his handlers told him that they would call him when need be. Weeks later, the call finally came. He was asked to make an outfit for Baba, but without measurements. “They told me to ‘picture Baba’ and make something that fits. How do you picture-fit a legend?” he jokes.
The assignment came at night, with a morning deadline, but he let it pass because he didn’t want to risk failure. Bray’s second chance A few months later, Irene Nyakerario Mayaka called and advised him to dash to Raila’s house as his daughter, Winnie, needed his services. That call marked the beginning of a new chapter. Bray became a regular at Winnie’s office, doing fittings, deliveries, and designing with precision and loyalty. “I never mentioned my dream to dress her dad,” he says. “She hired me, and I wanted to honour that first.” Fate brought Raila Odinga within meters of Bray’s dream in early 2025 when his bodyguard, Maurice Ogeta, came to his office for a fitting, while Baba was next door getting his haircut. “You can imagine the number of times I saw him walk in and out, next to my office,” Bray recalls. “I told Maurice, please, if I could just have one minute with him.” Bray’s dream that never came true Maurice promised to alert him once Baba was done. Bray waited for hours. Finally, Odinga walked out, accompanied by his longtime friend Kosewe.
The two were deep in conversation, which made him decide against interfering in the moment and let the chance pass. Over the years, Bray had interacted with many of Baba’s associates but he never used those connections to force his dream. “I always knew my time would come. Someday, I’d dress this great man of the soil,” he says. Raila’s death buried Bray’s hope Then came the news that broke his heart; his icon had died while receiving treatment at a hospital in India. “Yesterday marked his last day. I never made it to dressing Raila Amollo Odinga,” Bray wrote, his words heavy with emotion but laced with gratitude. For Bray, the dream to dress Raila was more than fashion, it was legacy as he represented everything he admired; courage, charisma, and class. He concludes that even though he never got the chance, he believes his designs will one day meet his spirit somewhere in the fabric of history.
By Hillary Lisimba
