The love of fashion keeps me going — Pamela

Rebecca Nyathi Sunday leisure Correspondent
HER work is mouth-watering and mesmerising with an award collection to match. Last year she became the first African to be nominated for the Vogue and Musee International Emerging Fashion Accessory Designer in which she was a finalist. Pamela Nyawiri said her work was inspired by the African way of life and the stories were evident in every piece of her work.
The 40-year-old stated that she was born in Harare and is the eldest of three girls.

She said the love of fashion came from her mother who was also a designer.
“I was always surrounded by creativity when growing up. My mother was so fashion forward that she was nicknamed “Princess Di’’ for her style,” she said.
Like most of the artistes who when starting a career in arts are disheartened, Nyawiri stated that her family was against the idea of her venturing into arts industry.
She said the love she had for fashion drove her back to it after giving up her job at the community newspaper group — New Ziana, Musasa Project then later Daily News as a Fashion Journalist before moving to the UK.

“As a teenager I often experimented and got into trouble for cutting up my clothes to make them different. After high school I was desperate to take up art, however my family was very much against it. They said art discipline was for people without a future.

“My second choice was journalism and my uncle, the late Shepherd Samasuwo who was a journalist was a big influence,” she said.
“While making accessories in between my day job, I felt that to be a credible designer, I needed to go to university to learn the art of perfecting my work. While there are other people who have become big designers (and I have great respect for them) without university education, the world is becoming very competitive, and if you want to be different and set apart, you have to improve yourself.

“I was accepted at Nottingham Trent University and studied Fashion Accessories Design,” said the fashionista.
Nyawiri who is a mother of two said Zimbabwe has a lot of potential when it comes to fashion designing.

“Zimbabwe has a lot of potential and over the last few years I have seen remarkable and promising talent. However, we still lack international appeal.
“There is a lot of copycatting going on in the fashion industry; it is always the same prints that a million designers use. Designers have to ask themselves who they are designing for and understand their market level and consumers. Designing is not about just taking a piece of material and coming up with something from thin air. “You have to look at the trend markets, the colour trends for that season or year, and invest in research for the concept you are using for your inspiration,” she Nyawiri.

Like most artistes, she added she has faced many challenges.
“Our biggest problem as designers is coming up with quality. Many designers lack the resources and finances to perfect their work, but as long as we treat our trade like child’s play, we will never be respected as a country or continent,” said Nyawiri.