The Swahili Fashion Week ran for three days from 10th to 12th November 2011 at the National Museum in Dar es Salaam. It included exhibitions from various Designers, Fashion Shows and Fashion Awards. I had the pleasure of attending the 2nd day , although I was late but I made it.
I was impressed by the ramp, well set up and perfect lighting, also the quality of the models was also very impressive. The turnout was good with a crowd of people of mixed races wearing some of the designers' creations and some also wearing various African prints in modern designs.
The fashion Industry has grown tremendously from the late 90s when we started experiencing professionally done Fashion Shows in Tanzania. Some people could not differentiate a model from a beauty queen. There was a misunderstanding between Fashion Shows and Beauty Pageants.
Today, we see the existence of talented Designers with Brands that are already internationally recognized. Mustafa Hassanali ,Afrika Sana, Asia Idarous, Jamilla Swai , Robi Morro of Mapozi Designs, Ally Remtullah, Vida Mahimbo, Tanzania Mitindo House and Sheria Ngowi just to mention a few.
I believe we should do all we can to also encourage upcoming designers as well. There are people who are talented but are shy and not confident enough to venture into Fashion Professionally.
To the Swahili Fashion Week organizers, keep it up an continue to develop the Fashion Industry in East Africa . Lastly, kudos to the winners in the various categories of the Fashion Awards!
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