President�s Day Fashion Show participants show potential
Dumisani Ncube | Friday July 21, 2017 15:09
The Fashion Show had a number of categories such as hairdressing, modelling, dressmaking and fashion design. In all the categories different players proved to have potential in their respective crafts, especially those who competed in the finals, but according to experts, only a few fashion designers and dressmakers showed creativity in their works.
The lack of creativity was visible in the dressmaking and fashion design categories. The outfits appeared basic without that fashion show flair. The outfits from both categories were almost similar despite it being different categories.
“I really do not know where it went wrong, the standard of clothing needs to improve. We need to see more growth amongst the designers and dressmakers. Had I not been told that there is the dressmaking and fashion design category I was going to think that it was just one category because the outfits were the same,” said Aobakwe Molosiwa a renowned fashion designer who had attended the fashion show.
He challenged both dressmakers and fashion designers to be more creative on their craft as he stated that they lacked creativity with most of the outfits being a repetition of what has been done before.
“They need to be creative and make something of their own, gain inspiration by travelling, exploring and learn about other cultures. I feel they have to use other materials apart from the German print because it has been overused especially in this competition”. Despite having said that he noted that the winners of both categories Tebogo Batshabele and Mmoloki Letshebe, who won the fashion designer and dressmaking categories respectively, had impressive outfits as they expressed creativity.
Batshabeleís outfits were made from plastic straws, which impressed the judges and the audience while Letshebe crafted a military suave outfit.
The German print material has been used over the years but both dressmakers and fashion designers were not creative enough to play around with the material as it was crafted in a similar manner of basic clothes done by an ordinary tailor.
“We keep recycling the same cut and elements, only a few people from both categories stood up and showed their expertise. The skirt made from straws was really impressive others decided to use material which is common,” said One Motlhabane fashion designer and media personality.
She cited that lack of diverse material might have played a role in the outcome of the outfits to look basic, stating that in Botswana there is a lack of clothing material as it is limited. “We are not really exposed to a lot of stuff especially fabric,” she said.
The hairdressing category, which was introduced this year, showed great potential, talent and creativity. Hairdressers crafted hairstyles of different styles and shapes using different elements such as plants, electrical appliances and chemicals.
Hairdressing competitions or shows are hardly held in the country, which has left hairdressers without such a platform to market their craft.
“There was a lot of inspiration on the hairdressing category. All the hairdressers brought their A game to the show, they even outclassed fashion designers and dressmakers with their showcase,” Motlhabane said.
Modelling agency owner, Leatile Motlhalame expressed some excitement on the fashion show stating that it is a good platform for the fashion industry players but urged the orgnaisers to publicise more on the registration for the competition saying most people were not aware of the competition.
“I hope with time they will introduce more categories such as commercial modelling, they only need to improve their production especially the music part. They should have music dedicated for the various categories. On Friday it seemed the DJ was playing what he wanted without the choreography in mind,” Motlhalame said.