Nthatuoa Koeshe
THE Lesotho Fashion Week (LFW) this week opened entries for local designers’ applications for the debut edition of the festival that is expected to run from 1 to 4 November 2018.
LFW’s first edition has been pencilled in for Thaba Bosiu Cultural Village and the showcase will become a biannual event.
Khalala, an international business of African fashion, who are the organisers of the fashion week said they would showcase autumn and winter collections for both men and women.
Founder of the LFW, Mahali Granier, told the Weekender that applicants have to be residents of Lesotho and have to be over 21 years.
“We are looking for designers who are bold, who can think outside the box and who love African prints,” Granier said.
“We are looking for individuals who can sketch, stitch and are creative.
Founder of Lesotho Fashion Week Mahali Granier
“Interested designers can submit their applications via our website www.khalala.com/lsfw while they can also follow us on different social media platforms under the handle Lesotho Fashion Week for daily updates.”
Granier said they hope to get 20 womenswear and 12 menswear designers to give them exposure to local and international media houses, magazine editors, fashion bloggers, photographers, A-list celebrities, retail buyers and direct consumers in Africa and internationally.
“One designer stands a chance to showcase their designs at the 2019 Paris Fashion Week and will also showcase at the internationally renowned iTU Espace Design in Grenoble, in France for three months,” she said.
Granier who is currently in France said her trip to France will be followed by a high end red carpet showcase and at the tell-session at Alliance Française de Maseru.
She said day the first day of the four-day extravaganza will be strictly by invitation to a selected audience at the launch of the iTU Espace Design Capsule featuring the work of three local fashion designers.
“The capsule collection will be available at iTU Espace Design, an international boutique based in Grenoble, France for six months in 2019.”
She said they will also screen a short fashion film, an initiative to support and develop relationships between fashion designers and local film makers.
“Day two will comprise of the business of fashion conference themed, “Building a successful career in fashion: Secrets from the experts” which will grant designers the core understanding of the business of fashion,” Granier said.
She added that the conference would focus on the four main elements of the fashion value chain namely design and development, production and supply chain, marketing and communications and sales and distribution.
She further explained that day three would comprise of a womenswear catwalk by up to 20 designers while 12 menswear designers will showcase their designs on the last day.
“On both the third and fourth day, a trade exhibition will run parallel to the presentation of the collections and will serve as a wholesale platform for designers to sell directly to boutiques, end users and online stores located.
“The LFW will be followed by a Luxury Designer Pop Up Shop in Paris, during the 2019 Paris Fashion Week aimed at introducing designers to international consumers, while opening further trade opportunities for them,” she said.
Granier said LFW is vital for promoting local designers and also bringing together industry experts under one roof to form new relationships and share ideas, which is all too rare to find in the country.
The platform will help local designers to understand their business, the importance of the fashion calendar and how to relate with international buyers and press. This, she said, integrates them into the cut throat global fashion business.
She said the LFW will also create a high-profile business to business marketing platform for fashion, footwear, accessory and jewellery in Lesotho.
“We want to use this platform not only to boost African fashion as a business and a source of inspirational creativity but most importantly, to market Lesotho fashion talent and attract global attention to its very rich and diversified dress culture which can and should be explored as a catalyst for the social economic growth of the country’s garment and textile industry,” Granier said.
Granier this was the best time to introduce the LFW as the country is experiencing a surge in artistic renaissance driven by its millennial generation, specifically in the area of visual arts and fashion.
“Sadly, despite the rise of talent in this domain, the lack of a formalised showcasing structure that aims to bring to the forefront, the country’s artistic brilliance to the rest of Africa and the world, remains a market access barrier,” Granier said.
