When the Tujiamini by SportPesa awards arrived in the Coast region this year, one name stood out not for a football win or a community rally, but for something stitched together with patience, precision, and purpose. Fashion designer Matano Sanday, better known by his brand name Mr Stitch, was announced one of the Coast Silver Winners, receiving KES 100,000 to expand his growing creative enterprise and deepen his community impact.
From a compact studio in Bamburi, the designer has built a reputation for crafting custom suits, kanzus, exquisite gowns, and bold African wear that blend tradition with contemporary edge. His work has dressed weddings, graduations, cultural ceremonies, and artists across the county, earning him the respect of clients who describe his designs as confidence you can wear.
But Matano’s story is not simply one of fashion. It is one of ambition meeting purposes in a place where opportunity often demands resilience. With only two tailors and three machines, he has grown a small workshop into a brand with a loyal following and a dream that keeps stretching well beyond the studio walls. “Every outfit I create carries a part of our culture and a part of the client’s identity. That is what keeps me going,” he says.
Away from the sewing tables lies the heart of his mission. Through his initiative, Mr Stitch Cares, Matano supports vulnerable children in the community, offering essentials, mentorship, and the assurance that someone sees their potential. “True wealth is found in doing good for others,” he often tells his team. It is a belief shaped by the challenges he has witnessed growing up along the Coast and reinforced by the small but powerful changes he sees when kindness meets consistency.
Winning the Tujiamini Silver Award has become a turning point in his journey. The funds are helping him upgrade tools, increase production capacity, and position his brand for larger opportunities that were previously out of reach. Access to better machines and expanded workspace means he can train more youth, create more jobs, and push the Mr Stitch aesthetic into national and even regional markets.
“With Tujiamini walking beside us, we will raise both the Kenyan flag and the Tujiamini spirit, showing that fashion can be a force for change,” Matano says. “Success means lifting others as you rise, and now I have the support to do that.”
As the Coast region celebrates its winners, stories like his reveal what the Tujiamini by SportPesa platform is steadily proving across Kenya. Talent lives everywhere, and when belief meets opportunity, even a small workshop in Bamburi can become a launchpad for creativity, dignity, and community transformation. Matano’s next steps are simple but ambitious. He plans to grow his brand, expand his production house, and mentor aspiring designers so they too can “chase their dreams stitch by stitch.”
In a region where youth unemployment remains a challenge and creative industries often lack investment, Mr Stitch’s rise is more than a personal win. It is a reminder that innovation can emerge from ordinary spaces, and that with platforms like Tujiamini amplifying these voices, community change can be handcrafted one stitch at a time.