Fashion Mob Invades Main Mall

Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Tuesday June 26, 2018 16:07

 

This group of youth blew their curious audience away with their amazing catwalk in a free of entry fashion show.  Two of IMS founders, Kerrin Ramotlhabane and Gaone Mooketsi, told Showtime IMS has existed for a year.

'IMS is a non-governmental organisation that offers training to upcoming and aspiring models free of charge.  We have been successfully running since May 2017, with an increase of the number of models attending each session.  It has trained over 100 models since its establishment,' Mooketsi said. 

She said that school was a revolution to the modelling industry in Botswana. She explained their mandate was to nurture talent and promote modelling in the country. Its goal is to help grow the modelling industry reach international standards.  

She said it aspires for the modelling industry to be viewed as a worthy investment that can fuel economic growth by encouraging the youth to nurture and utilise their talent to eke a living.

Mooketsi said IMS is an element of youth empowerment and a fuel to economic growth. Moreover, she explained that it is set to address issues of model exploitation and also change how people perceive the modelling industry.

She added that they realised that the general public lacked understanding about modelling while some did not appreciating it arguing that like any other career modelling could put food on the table.

'We train and develop the following; runway skills, posing and posture presentation, model etiquette and behaviour and model business skills and presentation. We also offer training for runway modelling, print modelling and fashion editorial modelling.  We basically teach aspiring models modelling etiquette,' said Ramotlhabane.

She explained that that was the third time they hosted a flash fashion mob. She added that the objective of the mob is to groom the models and get them used to parading before the public.

She said they did not want their models to be in a situation where they would be signed for big gigs only to panic before the audience, as they had no experience of modelling before a large crowd.

Ramotlhabane explained that they take pride in producing a number of models that have made it in both the local and international fashion industry. She said the South African (SA) modelling agencies signed some of their models.

She said some showcased at some of the biggest fashion shows such as Soweto Fashion Show, Durban Fashion Fair, Fashion Without Borders, President's Day Fashion Competitions and Masa Fashion Show.

'Just like our peers in the industry, we are facing financial challenges. We can’t afford to rent a place, but we need facilities where we can train our models. We also need venues to do photo shoots,' she noted.