DeMoyo: From Paris with love

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Having finished her high school, she found herself in a dilemma, unable to decide on whether to first pursue a career in law or follow her passion in fashion designing — something which had manifested in her at a tender age

Having finished her high school, she found herself in a dilemma, unable to decide on whether to first pursue a career in law or follow her passion in fashion designing — something which had manifested in her at a tender age.

By DON MAKANYANGA

Paidemoyo Chideya
Paidemoyo Chideya

A determined Paidemoyo Chideya decided to go against the tide at that particular moment and followed her first love, enrolling for a course in fashion and designing at Parsons School of Design in Paris, France in 1997. The college is one of the leading fashion and designing institutes in the world.

After completing the one-year fashion and designing course, she was to enrol for a three-year law degree at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom before she joined the Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Interior Design in New York for further fashion and design studies.

Equipped with her fashion and designing qualifications, Chideya found herself in some of the world’s renowned designers’ offices, working as a Blue Label denim designer, American Living Men’s designer for Polo Ralph Lauren and head designer for men’s, women’s and children’s denim with Rockstar. Chideya also had a stint at Calvin Klein Jeans where she worked as an assistant denim and wovens designer.

The 37-year-old fashion designer, who spent 23 years in foreign lands, decided to retrace her roots in 2013 and she set a fashion and designing label called DeMoyo.

“The brand DeMoyo was founded on the premise that dreams can come true. But not only that, dreams with purpose can change and transform lives. Using a vertically integrated system that comes out of the heart of Zimbabwe, and working to empower young people to give them a hope and a future, we cannot only restore the nation, but build Africa for generations to come,” she said.

Chideya, a daughter to the late diplomat Ngoni Togarepi Chideya, revealed how the journey of being a fashion designer was born, saying she had to follow the advice of her high school teacher despite her being eager to study law.

“I have always had an innate talent of drawing and I found myself doing a lot of this, although I was also fairly advanced in all my other subjects, except for sports. I spent almost 10 of my formative years in London, but when I was graduating in high school, I applied for a law school, as I thought that I would be a natural fit for that. However, a curator from Parsons School of Design saw something special in my work, and at one time my art teacher Mr McFarland had told me to remember who I was,” she said.

“Blessed with the opportunity to defer my entry into law school, I packed my bags and headed straight to Paris at my first opportunity. After a year in Paris, I became very clear about my love for fashion.”

She said setting up the label in Zimbabwe was influenced by the natural course of action, and some unplanned events of her life which could see her rubbing shoulders with some renowned fashion moguls in the industry.

“I want to be honest and say that the fashion journey has not been an easy one. When I was deep in it, what they say about the industry is true. It’s cruel, its cold and it’s dark, not to mention that I am black, female and African,” she said.

“I was exposed to so many countries and people at such a tender age. I began to realise that I was created to do something with all of this exposure. The oasis path has continued to mould my ideas around development and sustainability in my field, but not only that, I feel a great responsibility to assist where I can to improve the wellbeing and livelihoods of those around me, for the underprivileged in particular.”