Sylvia Owori is one of today's leading figures in East Africa's media, modelling, advertisement and fashion industries, famous for both her entrepreneurial skills as well as for her creative talent. Today, her designs are appreciated by a very large public in Uganda and her participation in a variety of prestigious events all over Africa have worked to make her a respected designer throughout the continent. Sylvia's contribution towards Uganda's development was recently recognised by President Museveni himself, when in June 2006 she received the Presidential Transformers Award.

Having studied with some of the most skilled professionals in London, her design ethos is the result of the excellent training she received, added to her unique imagination and natural talent. Drawing her inspiration from her Ugandan roots and the African life style as well as from her extensive travels to the USA and Europe, Sylvia's style is recognised as being bold while staying approachable.

Her break into fashion happened when she took on the challenge of revitalising the 'Miss Uganda Beauty Pageant', (2001-2004) which following her input became one of the most significant events on the Ugandan social calendar. She also revealed her innovative talent by designing outfits for the contestants of the M-Net Face of Africa in Dar es Salaam (2000) and Cape Town, which resulted in immense acclaim from the public as well as from fashion critics. Following this positive feedback, Sylvia was appointed to design the Nokia Face of Africa's Ugandan finalist's outfit in 2001.

In 2004, Sylvia launched her own label 'Sylvia Owori', providing a range of prêt-a-porter exclusively on sale in her flagship store in Kampala and in an outlet in Nairobi. Her style can be described as a balanced mix between smart and elegant outfits for work and trendy casual wear for leisure, all designed with sophisticated and modern working women in mind.

Since then, Sylvia has participated in Kenya Fashion Week 2004, after which her designs were featured on the front page of both Kenyan and Ugandan daily newspapers. In 2005, her talent and reputation attracted the interest of the makers of the Hollywood movie 'The Last King of Scotland' for which she created the costumes for the main characters of the movie filmed in Uganda.

But Sylvia's achievements go much further than these acknowledgments for her designs.
Parallel to her design work, since 1999, she has shown her capacity for looking ahead and taking risks by starting the first modelling agency in the country: 'Ziper Models' supplying the best professional models on the Ugandan market. The company, now renamed ZIPA is still one of the most eminent agencies in East Africa, scouting and selecting the best female and male models from across the continent. 

Next, in November 2005 Sylvia launched 'African Woman' the first high quality women's magazine of the kind in the region, following a philosophy of focusing on themes ranging from fashion to life style and health; topics that are pertinent to the contemporary women of East Africa.

Sylvia has just been selected as one of the ten designers to dress a Nokia Face of Africa finalist in Sun City this August and is also preparing for her show in the up coming 'Nokia Cape Town Fashion Week' in July. Without a doubt, this event will be the next step in her successful career and fashion enthusiasts from all over the continent are impatient to see her new collection unveiled.