Zedekiah Lukoye, popularly known as Zeddy Loky, is the brain behind the luxury brand identified as Narok NYC, which is based in New York City, USA, and is well-known for its top-of-the-range suits.
Born in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county, Lukoye’s interest in fashion was inspired by his mother’s friends who sold second-hand clothes around his home area.
Despite being a young boy, he engaged in the business and started buying second-hand clothes and selling them to his friends at a profit.
“Growing up, there was a flea market right outside my school that I’d pass every day. Sometimes, I stopped by the different stalls.’’
”My mother had many friends who sold secondhand clothes, and it occurred to me that I could also make money selling clothes to my fellow students,” he said in a past interview with The Standard.
I started my fashion business in Kenya with school pocket money
He later moved to Nairobi, where he met friends who introduced him to tailoring. He did the job for several years before he finally got the capital to start his own fashion shop.
In partnership with a friend, the duo invested Sh200,000 in the then Kenyatta Market-based shop. Lukoye revealed he sold his first single pair of jeans for Sh500, but as demand surged, the price jumped to Sh2000 depending on the client.
The duo’s success story cannot be told without mentioning the many news anchors, musicians, and other public figures who frequented their shop seeking their services.
The business blossomed further in 2011 when Lukoye got a chance to showcase his designs at the Blankets and Wine Festival. At the event, one of the celebrities he had dressed introduced him to a New York fashion buyer.
The New York buyer was so impressed by his work and invited him to attend the New York Fashion Week the following year.
“She was very impressed. A couple of weeks later, she called to ask me if I had a passport. I did. She told me she wanted me to attend the New York Fashion Week. I kept waiting for someone to wake me up from the dream. I couldn’t believe it,” he recounted.
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He attended the event where he landed an opportunity to intern with Alexander Nash – a mega fashion brand in America –which employed him immediately after the internship.
He later quit after three years for another leading brand, 3X1, where he worked for one year, honing his fashion skills.
”I felt I had grown enough to venture out on my own. I believe that if you stay in one place for too long without forward motion, you’re at great risk of falling backward. Narok NYC was started in 2013 but became a fully-fledged luxury fashion brand in 2016,’’ he said.
He has since dressed many journalists and celebrities across the world, including Lando Griffins, Tyson Beckford, Wayne Gallman, and NBA legends Chris McCullough and Derrick Williams.
Other celebrities that Lukoye boasts are Sportpesa CEO Ronald Karauri, Lupita Nyong’o’s younger brother Peter Junior Nyongo, artist Bradley Theodore, actor Dion Saap, violinist Damian Escobar, and Rohan Marley, among others.
Lukoye said a pair of suits from Narok NYC costs around Ksh200,000, adding that his company targets high-end individuals who can afford their rates.
”Narok NYC is about dressing people who want a certain lifestyle and can afford it. I don’t apologize for that. That’s my brand. That’s what we stand for,’’ he concluded.
