Victor Kasiga : The singing runway model exploring global grounds

A Forbes article titled ‘why being Jack of all trades is essential for success’ reveals that despite the saying ‘Jack of all trades is a master of none’ being perceived negatively, people who are great at a number of things at the same time are more likely to succeed in life than people perfecting one career path.

One of those Jacks whose talents reflects the definition of perfection is Victor Kasiga alias Vidu who is both a singer and an international model.

Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Victor moved to Dar es Salaam at the age of 16. His journey into both careers began a year after in 2017 when he moved to United Kingdom for studies.

Staying at his cousin’s place during one summer holiday, who is also a musician, Victor developed an interest into making music

“I lived in Manchester at the time for about seven months to peruse a career in professional football, but my head and heart where turned towards the art. I didn’t know anyone who made music at the time. So to see him do it and do it well, made me more curious about making music myself.

Coming back to Dar es Salaam, Vidu started browsing videos on YouTube in search for beats to write to.

“I quickly made a friend who had recording equipment and I made my first song, ‘Two Years Old’. I became very interested in the production of music too. I’m a very particular person, so I always take time to find the right beat to rap on, this led me to making my own beats on an iPad using GarageBand,” he detailed.

It was mainly for experimentation although he shares that after made another project and titled it ‘Untitled by Louis ViDu’, “Since then it has been a learning journey about creating and performing music,” says Vidu

The name Louis came with journey into fashion, Vidu started modelling for his friends in their personal projects. After a few gigs he then reached out to fashion companies including Sampaix which is based in the UK.

“I worked with Sampaix for a few months and my time there led me to doing more work with other local and independent photographers. When I moved back to Dar es Salaam, I continued to work with independent photographers and agencies with the intent to build my portfolio to show potential modelling agencies,” he recalls.

He further reveals “After I graduated high school at Haven of Peace Academy, I moved out of Dar es Salaam to Canada to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Media and Design at the University of I also got signed to another modelling agency named Angie’s Models and Talent International (AMTI) but I barely worked due to the corona pandemic. I moved again and transferred to Amsterdam at the University of Vrije University where I got signed to another modelling agency that I’m currently working with named ‘The Movement Models’.” Unfolding his second career, the 22 year old details that seeing how devoted Bayo was in music, he started to like it a little bit more.

His proudest moment in music is when he was making the song ‘Summer Blues’ from his first album titled ‘Love & Violence’ which was released on July 2, 2021.

“That moment was fun and spontaneous. My favourite part of the song is the melody at the end of the song that was recorded by my friend Olema. It’s my most played song on Soundcloud and Spotify,” he details.

His last project, ‘Love & Violence’ is about a person growing and falling in love. The album contains seven songs including Alive, Killed Bill, Sunday Morning, Shotgun, Sweet Pain and No Girl, No Cry.

“There are so many feelings that come with young love and sometimes these feelings are contradictory. I made that album because I wanted to share my experience of heart breaks and the spirit to fight to fall in love again since it’s a universal language that people can relate to,” he says.

Victor says that between the two, fashion is more of a career than music because he still feels like a beginner in the latter.

His love for modelling was inspired by fashion shows. From a young age, he would watch them on YouTube and he was amazed the way different designs of clothes passed on different stories as they aligned with the models wearing them.

“I see fashion shows as short movies and stories that are carried on through garments that are showcased. Being a model means becoming the medium that gives these garments life. Without the model, clothes are emotionless and cannot serve their purpose. I wanted to be part of the stories that clothes can tell. With time, I became interested in the whole industry rather than modelling alone, so I became a model because it is like a back door into the industry,” Victor details.

“Modelling looks very glamorous on the outside but there is more to it. I love it as a career because I can study the designs of the clothes I get to wear for different brands. Through fashion, I have also been able to meet people in the creative industry. Being a student pursuing Media and Design, modelling is like field work for my course work,” he explains.

He recalls the first time he walked a fashion show. Victor says that it was at Swahili Fashion Week 2018 and he was casted as a performer for his friend’s brand named Kahvara.

“It was nerve wracking because it was my first time performing in front of a lot of people. However I calmed down after the audience felt familiar and when I decided to be more present and focus on what I was meant to do,” he remembers.

Of all his proudest moments in fashion, Victor recalls the first shoot in Amsterdam with Daily Paper for their Spring and Summer 22 collection.

“In spite of the fact that I liked their vision and work, I felt honoured to do that job so early in my career,” he explains.

Late June this year, Victor got casted for a show in Paris for a brand called Reese Cooper. He hints that it was a dream come true to be part of the show.

“I was excited to be one of the models at the Paris fashion week because such shows are the ones that Inspired when I was younger. It was a dream because I had been working for a while preparing for such moments and It felt good to actually live that moment. It also felt like it was a good start for my career,” he says.