Irene Chiedza Mugwagwa sold her first beaded necklace for three US dollars. The buyer took three months to pay.
Most people would have taken that as a sign to quit. Irene kept going. Today she is a fashion designer and the founder of Succille Handcraft, and her beadwork has appeared on runways and album covers, at international expos, and on Zimbabwean television. This is her story.
From bookkeeping to beading
Irene grew up in Zimbabwe. She went to Courtney Selous School for her primary education and St Patrick's in Gweru for secondary school. She then built a career as a bookkeeper, a job she did for more than 15 years.
The work was steady on paper, but not in practice. Salaries came late, and sometimes not at all. At home, her husband was often away. Irene started looking for something she could enjoy that would also bring in a reliable income. She tried rug making first, then bottle décor, then macramé. In 2019 she learned to bead, and everything changed. "I knew this was it for me," she says.
A slow start
After finishing her beading course, Irene tried selling her work. It didn't go well at first, and that three-dollar necklace was part of the early struggle. But she believed in what she was making, so she kept at it.
That belief comes from how she sees her own work. Irene isn't interested in copying what everyone else makes. She calls herself "artistically crazy" and says she gets bored making things that already exist. What she loves is creating pieces people haven't imagined yet, the kind that make someone stop and say, "I need this in my collection."
Beads, seeds, bones and hides
Irene works mainly in beadwork and macramé, but she doesn't limit herself to beads. She uses natural seeds, bones, animal hides, stones and shells. In her words, anything she can imagine can become something.
For her, fashion means endless possibilities. A piece can stand on its own, or it can be a mix of fabric, beads and natural materials all working together. She has even started making beaded furniture, and she plans to do more of it.
Wearing your heritage
Behind every piece is a bigger goal. Irene wants people around the world to understand the meanings, traditions and beliefs behind Zimbabwe's cultures.
Her designs draw on the Ndebele, Shona, Kalanga, Nambya, Chewa, Shangaan, Venda, Tonga, Tswana and Tsonga cultures, along with English influences. She says she is still learning about more.
She uses cultural colour combinations in her beadwork, but designs them to fit into everyday life. Her pieces are meant to be worn with office clothes, weekend outfits or church wear. She describes the look as classy and chic for women, and cool for men.
When someone wears her work, she wants them to feel the confidence that comes from knowing where they come from.
"I want us to know we have an identity that is far beyond the names on our birth certificates," she says.
She also sees her work as a way to bring people together. Once we understand the beauty and meaning behind each group's dress, she believes, we start to see the beauty in each other.
Her work on stage and screen
Irene's beadwork has travelled well beyond her workshop. She has shown her work at:
- Beautiful Africa Fashion Show in Malawi (October 2022)
- Expo 2020 in Dubai (2020 and 2021)
- just Zimbabwe Agricultural Show
- Zimbabwe-Tanzania Trade and Investment Forum (2022)
- Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan
She has worked with top Zimbabwean designer Fungai Muzoroza, creating beaded and crystal designs for the Makanaka Fashion Show. She has also made beadwork for musicians Tahle weDzinza and Tammy Moyo.
More recently, she worked with designer Jay T on the outfits for Jah Prayzah's Chiremera album cover. Other musicians she has worked with include Romeo Gasa, Nduna and Chiedza Muchena.
On television, she has worked with the national broadcaster ZBC TV as a costume designer and supplier for several cultural films, including Nyami Nyami.
A family craft
Irene is married and has two daughters, and she has taught both of them to bead. That matters to her. Her vision is to leave both an artistic and a financial inheritance for her children's children.
Beading is also personal. She calls it her peaceful place, where she goes to find herself. It's through beading, she says, that she keeps reaching her goals.
Shop Succille Handcraft
Every Succille Handcraft piece is made by hand in Zimbabwe, and each one carries a bit of Irene's story and her country's heritage.
