County Women Representatives at the AFAD Breakfast. Photo Courtesy
By Mwikali Lati
In Summary
- Their designs will be judged and one or more designers eliminated until only a few contestants remain.
- Three finalists will make garments to be showcased during the Safari Fashion Week in November.
Fashion designers from across the country are set to showcase their talent in a reality television series.
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The Safari Fashion Runway Show seeks to demystify the belief
that only three cities in Kenya are keen on fashion by bringing on
board participants from all 47 counties.
The Association of Fashion Designers – Kenya (Afad)
in partnership with Sarova and Chase Bank will give aspiring or
established fashion designers an opportunity to showcase their best
fashion talent in a TV competition.
“Yes, fashion is not understood by some. But our
mission is to bring out the best fashion talent beyond Nairobi,” said
Sally Karago, the chair of Afad.
Ms Karago said time is ripe for the fashion
industry to be recognised as a sector that creates employment. Afad’s
aim is to change the perception that fashion is a hobby. “Afad is trying
to show that fashion and design is a business and it can be a lucrative
one,” Peggy Onyango, the vice-chairperson of Afad said.
Ms Karago said there are more women in government now who can highlight the importance of the fashion industry to the economy.
“In other governments, we did not have women in
such key areas like the county representatives. The elected officials,
mostly men, only focused on macro-economic gains like infrastructure
development, but having women representatives will help carry the
fashion agenda,” she said.
Nairobi Women’s Representative Rachael Shebesh, who
was the guest of honour at the event, is a trained fashion designer.
Mrs Shebesh narrated how she used to walk around with a tape measure.
Kajiado MP Mary Seneta said she has already started
working on policies that will see the Maasai cultural dress and
jewellery become a commercial success that will benefit more women.
Another local fashion enthusiast was Machakos Women’s Rep Susan
Musyoka, who was dressed by Ms Onyango.
“I think many people are keen on fashion in the
counties. It is just that there has never been a platform to showcase
their talent,” said Ms Karago.
“The diverse cultures, great ideas and nurturing
talent can make Kenyan fashion have a distinctive style. Designers can
achieve a lot if we work together,” she said.
She gave an example of Eldoret Fashion Week, which was not known outside the county.
“They [designers] can be very good tailors, but
they might not have the creativity. They might know pattern making or
doing freehand cutting. It is about perfecting what you are doing
because using patterns makes the clothes fit better on the body. We are
going to improve what they already know. Let’s not do things like we did
before,” she said.
Afad is seeking to use fashion to help eradicate poverty by tapping into people’s talents and skills.
“Not everybody went to school but people have
skills and those are the ones we want to tap into. Those women or young
boys and girls can create their own businesses using these skills. We
need to have a well co-ordinated fashion industry so that when a buyer
comes, we know where to take them if they want 10,000 pieces of
clothes,” Ms Karago said.
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