AFTER a four-year hiatus, the country’s premier fashion event is set to return in October, a month that is now internationally dubbed African Fashion Month.
Since 2009, Zimbabwe Fashion Week Trust, a non-profit organisation founded by model-turned-entrepreneur Priscilla Chigariro has created and developed the growing fashion industries in Zimbabwe to help advance the careers of selected local talent and celebrate the thriving fashion and retail community.
Over the past one-and-a-half decades the Zimbabwe Fashion Week Trust through its events and development offerings, namely Zimbabwe Fashion Week (ZFW) and Young Designer’s Programme has managed to celebrate the creativity of multiple fashion designers from around the world on its fashion runway shows.
It has advanced the careers of young fashion designers by giving them the necessary skills to build their brands as well as giving them access to local, regional and international markets.
The trust has also effectively worked with numerous corporate brands and non-governmental organisations by way of utilising the creative input of the fashion industry in order to amplify each stakeholder’s brand to its target audience.
Besides the development of the fashion and textile industries, one of the major objectives of Zimbabwe Fashion Week is to play its part in the development of the tourism industry.
Historically held in various locations around Harare, Zimbabwe Fashion Week will this year be held at the majestic Victoria Falls.
Hosting the fashion week in Victoria Falls will encourage and highlight the destination not only as a spectacular tourist destination for safari, but as the gateway to the growing visual arts and fashion industries in Zimbabwe.
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Speaking on what this year’s showcase has in store, founder and executive producer Priscilla Chigariro told Standard Style that the idea of fashion week had always been challenging to develop beyond the runway due to many constraints. However, being based in the United States opened a lot of doors for her in the fashion industry.
“I am now in the thick of the Western fashion world and have access to multiple avenues to promote African designers from our region. Besides the runway shows, which will for the second season be produced by Johannesburg-based runway show producer Andiswa Manxiwa whose accolades include production for Africa Fashion International’s Johannesburg and Cape Town Fashion Weeks, a robust development program has been constructed, which will run throughout the year helping rebuild the fashion industry from grassroots level,” Chigariro said.
This year’s edition will be the first without an eventspecific theme. However, an elaborate story detailing the inspiration behind the event's new and permanent logo will serve as an ongoing theme for the event, titled Cultural Preservation.
ZFW incoming director Marshall Mutsamwira said their main focus this year and beyond is to not only create memorable fashion events, but to actively work with key stakeholders in the industry so as to enable the fashion industry to contribute positively to the country’s GDP through exports of cultural heritage, diversity, creativity and platforms for young Zimbabweans to actualise their creative vision and be competitive on the global market.
“Zimbabwe Fashion Week’s return this year is a very special one especially with the main event taking place at one of the seven natural wonders of the world; Victoria Falls. It is definitely going to be one not to miss”, he said.
One of the most notable success stories from previous editions of Zimbabwe Fashion Week is Ishmael Tsakatsa, the founder and head designer for the luxuriant Christian brand, Zargue’sia. Born in 1992, Ishmael grew up with a love for unique fashion and style.
He first appeared on the fashion scene at Zimbabwe Fashion Week 2012, Young Designers Competition. He then launched his brand Zargue’sia in 2013 at Zimbabwe Fashion Week where he was nominated for the Emerging Designer of the Year Award.
He went on to be awarded the ZFW Designer of the Year title at the Zimbabwe Fashion Awards in September 2014.
In October 2021, Ishmael made national history by becoming the first Zimbabwean designer to debut at Paris Fashion Week with his “Stones of Fire” Spring and Summer Collection
