Somewhere above the clouds, Grace Moreka is in her element. She has been a cabin crew member of an International Airline since 2005, rising over two decades from inflight attendant to Flight Purser, the senior-most role in the cabin. She has served Heads of State. She has performed CPR on a passenger mid-flight. She has been celebrated as a Duty Free sales champion. By any measure, hers is a distinguished aviation career.
And then the plane lands.
Back in Embakasi, in a factory next to a Safaricom outlet on the road to EASA, the same woman oversees a garment manufacturing operation. There are sewing machines, skilled artisans, production orders for corporate uniforms and PPEs, a retail outlet in Nyayo Estate , and the foundations of a vocational college taking shape. Grace Moreka does not run Amore Business Systems and Ventures Ltd from a distance. She built it from scratch, while still flying.
It started in a bedroom
The year was 2014. Grace and her husband began selling interior décor and bedding sets from their home. The customers were friends and relatives and even though the margins were thin, the product moved.
By March 2015, demand had outgrown the spare room. They formalised the business, registered it, and opened a flagship store. Over the years that followed, Amore evolved from décor into fashion, from fashion into manufacturing.
The pivot that changed everything
The shift into garment manufacturing is where Amore’s story gets serious.
Kenya has long struggled to build a domestic textile and apparel industry that can compete with the flood of cheap imports and second-hand mitumba that dominate the local market. The factories that once defined Kenyan manufacturing — Rivatex, KTM, the EPZ clusters — have never fully recovered from decades of structural neglect. Against that backdrop, choosing to manufacture locally is not just a business decision. It is a statement.
Amore’s factory produces corporate uniforms, PPEs, and bulk garment orders for institutional and retail clients across the region. The company pairs modern machinery with what it calls a “skilled, highly trained workforce” and holds itself to standards: ethical labour practices, compliance with Kenyan law, fair wages, and a growing commitment to sustainability.
Every garment is designed for longevity, using ethically sourced materials and eco-conscious production processes. In a market that runs on fast fashion and throwaway imports, Amore is making a deliberate argument for slower, better clothing made here, by Kenyan hands.
The business has been noticed. Amore has won recognition at the Kenya E-Commerce Awards taking both gold and silver honours in the Women Fashion category across consecutive years. It has been nominated for the Pacesetters Awards East Africa alongside firms like Safaricom and Tala. Grace herself has been identified as a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and a voice on Kenya’s manufacturing potential, writing and speaking about why the country is positioned to become a serious player in ethical global apparel production.
Beyond clothing: the college
The most ambitious part of Grace’s vision is not the factory. It is what she is building next to it.
The Amore Technical College is a vocational institution designed to produce skilled, work-ready artisans in textile and garment production. Students go through hands-on training, mentorship, and certification in advanced sustainable techniques. The goal is not just to supply Amore with skilled workers. It is to change what it means to be a tailor or garment worker in Kenya, to elevate the craft, and with it, the people who practice it.
“We equip students with practical, industry-ready skills,” Grace says, “ensuring they graduate prepared to thrive in today’s dynamic job market.”
For the women and youth artisans who work at Amore, the company offers fair-wage employment and structured apprenticeships
“We create more than clothing,” Grace adds plainly. “We cultivate dignity and opportunity.”
What the sky teaches you about the ground
It is worth asking what two decades in aviation gives you as an entrepreneur. The answer, in Grace’s case, appears to be almost everything.
“A Flight Purser manages people under pressure, across cultures and time zones, with no margin for error. I have led and motivated cabin crews, conducted performance appraisals, championed service standards, all these skills transfer, almost directly, into running a manufacturing business.”
Amore Business Systems and Ventures Ltd is based in Embakasi, Nairobi. Their factory, retail outlet, and technical college serve clients across Kenya and the region. Visit amore.co.ke to learn more.
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