Nthatuoa Koeshe
ENTRIES are now open for fashion lovers who aspire to be part of the debut Lesotho November Fashion Festival competition scheduled for Thaba-Bosiu Cultural Village is on 16 November.
The competition is open for all designers from in an outside the country who are aged 18 and above, who will contest for the M25 000 grand prize, an industrial sewing-machine, an industrial overlock machine, an iron or press, a mannequin and a M10 000 cash prize.
Running under the theme “A Day at the races”, the competition will see designers use jewel tone colours. They are also expected to design and sew a red-carpet ready outfit for a model in any fabric.
One of the organisers, Liteboho Jane Mokhethi, told the Weekender that the show is aimed at growing the local fashion industry by giving interested individuals in the business of fashion, fashion design, mass production and retailing an opportunity to compete nationally.
“We are giving fashion designers a space to boost their creativity through out of the box thinking while standing a chance to win life changing prices,” Jane said.
She said the aim of the competition is to encourage and inspire entrepreneurship which will lead to the much-needed job creation.
“We came up with this competition to grow the local fashion industry because we realised the huge gap between Lesotho and other African countries in terms on fashion.”
She said this came after a realisation that the local fashion industry is growing at a much slower pace than other African countries.
The space has also been created so that Basotho can have a feel of what other countries are doing while at the same time giving them a platform to exhibit their talent in industry, she said.
Jane added that with the competition, designers have to use any fabrications for an adult outfit. She said they also have a licence to use any fabric that they prefer and are also encouraged to use colours creatively.
In terms of the sewing, attention will be paid to the general impression of the outfit, suitable stitching and finishing techniques.
She said the judges will look at the overall impression of the design, relativity, how well the garment reflects the competition brief, construction and fitness on the model.
“The designers who will make it to the top 30 will get an opportunity to be part of the Tsa Haeso initiative. This is an initiative started by Felleng Hessini, one of the organisers of the Lesotho November fashion festival.”
She said entries will close on 30 September.
