Chepete mentorship instills independence
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Sunday May 22, 2022 04:47
In an interview with Arts & Culture, Chepete said the decision for her to come up with the initiative was considered after realising the high number of school dropouts churned out by the government educational system year after year. She stated that the situation led to students degrading their values while trying to make a living, and become victims of Gender Based Violence, suicide, drug abuse and HIV/AIDS in some instances.
She explained that the programme targets girls and young women aged between 18 and 25 from junior certificate holders to those with tertiary education. Chepete also said they intend to usher in at least 20-50 unemployed young women through an entrepreneurship development and skill training programme. The programme is expected to run for a period of three years. She said this would decrease the rate of unemployment, which went up during the period 2020/2021 in Botswana.
“After every six months, the organisation will help the mentees set up their own businesses and continue mentoring them until they are fit to stand on their own. We have received 400 applicants for the mentorship programme but we were seeking only 20 to 50 candidates. Due to many applicants, we have increased the number of mentees to at least 60. The criteria was that you have to be unemployed, be a young person, tell us why you are interested in being a fashion designer and the kind of impact you will make if you were to be enrolled into the programme,” she explained.
Furthermore, Chepete pointed out that FEDE like any other organisation has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. She, however, explained that their most current challenge was being forced to limit the number of clients they give their services to since they are currently operating from home. She also said they lacked funds to expand, adding that their dream was to export their branded clothes to countries like South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, where they needed to operate from a manufacturing warehouse.
Moreover, she explained that having been in the fashion industry for the past four years, she noticed that Botswana has a large market waiting to be exploited. However, she said local designers lack the capacity to create gains from the industry. She also said she feels that if Batswana designers could unite, they would create big empires that would impact generations to come. She added that local fashion designers were limited or enclosed to express their minds and creativity due to few platforms available in the country.
“If we could be exposed to bigger podiums the likes of Forbes Fashion Show, surely Botswana will be amongst the countries taking a lead in the fashion world because of so much talent that is there. Every brand has its own individuality. What makes mine outstanding is that I do not recreate anyone's job. I design, that simply says I do not accept an Internet pattern and sew it. I enjoy coming up with ideas, sketch and present in order for me to maintain individuality as well as not to limit my creativity.”
“This has helped grow my brand and I plan to go that direction in the future in order for my brand to standout in the fashion industry and maintain its nature. Like stated above, I desire to see my branded clothes in shops like Legit, Foschini and Mr Price stores. With that the aim is to run from a warehouse as I will not be limited by space neither will I limit my clientele line,” she said.
Chepete is a 2018 Limkoking University of Creative Technology graduate and holds a degree in Fashion and Apparel design. She is the founder and managing director of FEDE Couture, a fashion house that has been penetrating the fashion industry in the last four years. FEDE had been featured in a couple of platforms such as Masa Fashion Mentorship, Kushatha Fashion Show, Miss Botswana Fashion Shows and finales as an assistant coordinator working under the pageantry unit from 2019 to date.