adminShowbiz Reporter
THE Matabeleland Fashion Week, an event meant to showcase fashion and cultural trends of people from the region, has come and gone.
Now in its second edition, the fashion extravaganza held from October 29 to 31 at Fazak Home and Hyper in Bulawayo was generally marred by low attendance, especially on the first two days.
Considering that the event’s primary purpose was to empower people, societies, businesses and the community to appreciate the fashion industry, justice was not done as the event came and went without making an impact.
However, various designs from Bulawayo, Victoria Falls and South Africa were showcased, creating a network of designers and customers in the fashion industry. Designers who showcased their clothing included Saneliso Mpofu – Sanah Designs, Brenda Gogwe – Vons Designs, Enyioma Emwerem – The Ministry Clothing and South Africa’s Millicent Nkagane – SPUNK among others.
Those who have contributed and excelled in the fashion industry were also honoured at an awards ceremony held on the closing night.
Winners included Male Style Icon – Welshman Sibanda as well as Female Style Icon Bren Mupa.
Like any other event, the Matabeleland Fashion Week had its own share of problems; some which could have been avoided while some where beyond organisers’ control.
Below are some of the hits and misses.
Hits
Event Organisation
· The fashion showcase was generally well organised with events starting well on time.
· Considering that Bulawayo and the Matabeleland provinces are not exposed to such events which wholly focus on fashion, the Matabeleland Fashion Week was a welcome development.
Entertainment
· Compared to other events which get carried away with entertainment, organisers of the fashion extravaganza ensured that entertainment at various intervals was kept brief. This kept guests focused on proceedings on the ramp.
· Music selection during the fashion shows was commendable as mostly local music was played as models strut their stuff on the ramp.
M.C’s
· The use of top M.C’s Arthur Evans and Velile Dube was a plus as they were in touch with current fashion trends, looking trendy themselves. They both threw in relevant jokes from time to time.
Misses
Venue Selection
· This year’s home to the fashion extravaganza, Fazak Home and Hyper premises, though spacious and secluded, proved to be a bad venue choice as there were no ablution facilities. Guests had to use facilities across the road at a nearby restaurant.
Beverages
· Those who wanted to imbibe also had to rely on the restaurant across the street as alcoholic beverages were not served during the fair, neither were they allowed into the venue. This saw many guests trickling out of the venue.
Ticket Pricing
· Considering that there was not much on offer, save for a few outfits, the tickets which were priced at $15 per day were unreasonable. Most major shows in the city cost nothing more than $10. $5 would have at least attracted a few more customers, if not free for all.
Red Carpet
· The highlight of such an event is usually the red carpet as people dress up for the occasion. While people generally put in a lot of effort in dressing, they were let down by the red carpet, or is it black carpet which was rolled out on an area which had no lighting. As a result, guests had to have pictures taken in the dark, relying on the flash on their cameras.
Ramp
· No ramp was erected, forcing guests, especially those who were not on the front row, to constantly stand up to have a better view of the outfits.
Designers
· Not much effort was put by some designers as models took to the ramp clad in fabric joined together by safety pins. It seemed as if they had prepared the clothes overnight, yet they had a whole year to prepare for this occasion.
Sponsors
· While the event seemed to have failed to attract many sponsors, the few who came on board let down organisers by giving them fake promises. Fly Africa for example had committed itself to transporting one of the South Africa-based designers, only for them to let her down as their services in Zimbabwe have been currently suspended. As if that was not enough, the airline went on to run competitions where several guests were awarded air tickets.
Event Promotion
· Most promotions for events are now conducted online. The Matabeleland Fashion Week lacked in that area as there was not so much talk about the event on social media networking sites, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc.
Online Reporter