The dilemma in the fashion industry
Dumisani Ncube | Thursday January 14, 2016 12:12
The duo, in particularly, are not able to stock their collections in the ever-increasing fashion line stores in the country.
Most of these brand stores originateoutside, especially from countries such as South Africa Hence, they give first preference to designers from their respective countries, which leaves local designers as their last priority.
Local designers only get active through getting tenders from various clients, individuals, parastatals or fashion show invitations.
A young fashion designer, Aobakwe Molosiwa is one of the local designers that spread their wings and impressed local and international clients.
Molosiwa said that it has been pretty difficult for a number of fashion designers to put food on their table through their craft.
He said of the fashion business: “It’s seasonal, so we have to wait for periods such as weddings and to be given tenders by (government) ministries”.
He told Showbiz that it is tough for designers to get recognition from clothing line stores as they take designer clothes from their respective countries.
Molosiwa’s clothing line Gilded Sands has been featured at Miss Botswana 2015, Swahili Fashion Week and HIFA.
Another fashion designer, Kaone Moremong whose clothing line has featured on events such as the Global Expo Fashion Show expressed her views on this issue.
“I personally feel that the only way for us to be able to get recognition or considered for mass retail production, collaborations such as fashion consortiums have to be made,” said Moremong.
Moremong further suggested that the government should pass a law, which states that a certain percentage of local clothing lines in foreign retail stores should be stocked.
“The Botswana textile industry does not favour us when it comes to mass production,” she said.
She however stated that these clothing line stores have people that research trends and attend international fashion shows to find out about the latest trends, which leads to them choosing certain designs over local ones.
“Because here in Botswana our industry is so small, we do not have any big fashion shows. It is costly and most of us do not have access to such amounts of money,” she said.
Other clothing line designers have decided to be innovative in terms of selling their designs by having online stores, which they market on social networks and other media platforms.
One notable online store is the newly incepted Print Swim, an African print swimwear collection.
Costume designer, Opelo Letshwiti, who has corporate clients and some from as far as New York said although she has never tried putting her costumes or designs in any store the only advice she can give fellow designers is to open up their own back stores and sell their craft.
Fashion analyst and consultant, Teshawn Miller’s view on the issue was that fashion designers are not failing to reach the market. He said: “It is just that there is so much that needs to be done in order for the fashion industry to experience some stability”.
He also shared a number of factors that are leading to this issue. Miller said designers lack proper equipment and machinery for heavy-duty production, which is why local designers are not able to sell in retail stores.