adminThe odds of many locals meeting the Coco Chanels, Jimmy Choos, Foschini’ in the world of fashion are next to zero. Do not even get us started about setting foot in some of the world’s fashion capitals. Some end up lowering the bar on their expectations while others just don’t make that compromise.
Like the adage which says “You can never say never”, it might be difficult but not impossible. In that breath, it is worth mentioning that a young Zimbabwean Paidemoyo Chideya has been fortunate enough to have been there and done all that. At the age of 23 she landed a chance to work with not one but two of the best there is – Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren.
Born in Zimbabwe, “DeMoyo” as she is now known in the fashion world, was raised in Sweden. She pursued her studies in different parts of Europe like France, England and the United States where she obtained a law degree and another in fashion designing. While in the United States, the ambitious “fashionista” was presented with a lifetime opportunity when she submitted her resume that impressed the design director of Calvin Klein fashion house.
“I admit I was more that nervous but I thank God that my work was intact and he was impressed. I got the job and immediately started working at the corporate.”
Two years down the line she found herself working for yet another fashion guru when she joined Ralph Lauren. Although she admits that working for such high-profile organisations was an overwhelming experience her goals were not set on working for other people but realising her own dreams. She might have been living her dream in New York and in Los Angeles but at the back of her mind, she knew she was not staying long. She was far from reaching the pinnacle she had set for herself.
She only saw those opportunities as learning curves.
“I was doing what I wanted to do at the time but my dream was bigger than that. What I was there to do was find out what drove these top- class designers who started from scratch but ended up building empires for themselves. Just like them I wanted to be a renowned designer who could make my mark the world over,” she said. From then she slowly started building ideas about her own designs but circumstances drove her to Canada in 2010. This was after the death of her father and she wanted to be by her mother’s side. After working briefly with other designers she realised she did not need any hand holding and she took her designs to the Fashion
Week. In no time she made her grand debut at Fashion Art in Toronto where she unleashed the designs she had spent three years working on. “Fashion Art (FAT) did it for me and my designs were quiet impressive. I had taken my time on them and the response on them was overwhelming. I was recalled to showcase again six months later at the Ottawa Fashion Week (OFW) and from then I never looked back,” she said
After making more appearances on FAT and OFW all through 2011 she earned the right to showcase her Spring Collection and the World Master Card Fashion Week.
To her it was the most humbling achievement. She then resolved to come back home to Zimbabwe for a whole new adventure at the end of 2012.
“I was driven by my passion to work with disadvantaged women and children to come to my home and afford a lot of talented people a chance to work on lines that I will not only take onto the world’s best fashion weeks but the international fashion arena as a whole,” she said.
Through her new brand and organisation, DeMoyo, “Art from the Heart” she has engaged a lot of creative women who lack exposure to come up with unique Zimbabwean designs that will expose the Zimbabwean story to the world.
Online Reporter