Création Botswana in final chapter celebrating fashion, creativity
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Monday July 7, 2025 06:35
Launched in September 2023, Création Botswana is a pioneering fashion entrepreneurship program designed to empower and elevate Botswana's creative industry.
In an interview with Arts&Culture, the project manager Nature of the entity, Inger explained that Creative Botswana hosted a fashion and creative industries program, financed by the Embassy of France in Botswana, implemented by the Alliance Française Gaborone and the National Arts Council of Botswana (NACB), with the support of creative hub La Halle Tropisme (Montpellier, France) last year. She also said its objective was to support the structuring of the Botswana fashion industry, with a holistic approach that combined mentoring, training, mobility, financing and networking. 'The program supported 28 fashion designers selected through a national call for applications and divided into two cohorts: the first included 20 emerging designers, while the second brought together more seasoned professionals. Notably, seven of the 28 beneficiaries come from outside Gaborone, including Maun, Francistown, and Palapye, reflecting the program’s commitment to national inclusion and representation. Each participant received a grant of BWP 15,000 or BWP 50,000, depending on their cohort, to support the development of their brand,' she said. Although the local phase of the program is coming to an end in Gaborone, she pointed out that the support continues. Inger also pointed out that all beneficiaries would keep benefiting until the end of August from individualized monthly mentoring sessions with international experts, ranging from two to four hours per month, tailored to the needs of each cohort. She added that the closing workshop would take place in Gaborone from July 7 to 14th, 2025. She said it would be marked by three key events, such as the Pitch Competition (upon invitation) on Friday, July 11, 2025 at the Botswana National Museum, where the 10 finalists will present their fashion business projects in front of a prestigious jury chaired by the Minister of Youth and Gender, Lesego Chombo. Other jury members include acclaimed South African designer Rich Mnisi, Jean-Marc Chauve (managing director of the Imane Ayissi brand), and a senior representative from ABSA.
She added that Absa and Lucara Botswana will each award a P 50,000 prize to the two most outstanding pitches, recognizing excellence in creativity, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. The award ceremony would take place the following day, on Saturday, July 12, 2025 during the pop-up market at the new Alliance Française.
She said the pop-up market event will be open to the public from 12noon to 6pm, in the new premises of the Alliance Française. The pop-up market will be hosted at the new Alliance Francaise in Village, Gaborone. It is expected to treat the audience with a variety of fashion pieces from local designers' collections, food, good music and family-friendly vibes.
'Designers from Création Botswana will showcase and sell their collections, invite key partners, and engage with customers in a festive, supportive atmosphere. The event will also feature live performances by The Fleek Band and Mpho Sebina. We will also have the Bastille Day Fashion Show, strictly by invitation July 14, 2025 to mark France’s National Day. The eight designers from the second cohort will unveil their final collections during an exclusive fashion show hosted at the Residence of France in Gaborone. This celebration will also be an opportunity to highlight the strength of Franco and Batswana cooperation in the creative industries,' she said. While this week in Gaborone marks the end of the local training phase, Inger said the journey for the second cohort will start from September 30 to October 12, 2025. The eight designers will travel to Paris and Montpellier. She added that they would be participating in the Paris Fashion Week and the Biennale Euro-Africa, thus gaining further exposure to international markets and networks.
The events are fully funded by the French Embassy and organised and developed by Alliance Française and the National Arts Council of Botswana.