adminSHE is not just young, sensuously beautiful and versatile. She is also intelligent and has a gift of smiling. The statement that one can read from her face is that of a determined young lady who has refused to let her dreams just be dreams but managed to slowly turn them into reality.
Throughout the interview, she maintains a welcoming smile and takes every question on the go.
Dressed in a trademark BlackRunnaway labelled t-shirt, leather jacket and a pair of blue jeans, it is almost unbelievable that she is the lady behind the latest fashion trend that has made it onto the ramps of Bulawayo.
Such is just part of the story of Bulawayo’s rising designer Sidumisile Sibanda.
Many may think she could have taken a path similar to her age mates — that of going to university, but she has remained resolute in her career path of designing which was not so welcome to her family.
For Sdue, as she prefers to be called, fashion is her life and during the Fusion Fashion Show held at a local night spot last Saturday, she proved that she is a force to reckon with, after she was named the best newcomer in the city.
Not only has she started her fashion label, BlackRunnaway, she has taken the local designing landscape by storm with her gothic inspired designs.
In an interview with Sunday Leisure, Sidumisile revealed that while she could be regarded as a newcomer, she was not very new in the industry as she had been designing for the better part of her life, even claiming that she was the first to design the LP (Long Play) vinyl record inspired hand bags.
“When I first did that bag I was just a Form Three pupil at Mpopoma High School in 2010, I did not take it really seriously but I was shocked when a couple of years later I saw people like Mbo Mahocs carrying those bags and claiming someone else designed them, that is when I realised that this is my calling.
“I came back into the industry in 2014 after I finished school but I decided to take a whole new approach after realising that a whole lot of designers in the city were doing almost the same designs hence my gothic approach,” said Sidumisile.
The gothic fashion is a usually queer clothing style — a bit foreign to Zimbabwe — marked by conspicuously dark, mysterious, exotic, and complex features.
On her concept, the young designer revealed that she aimed at bringing out what people never appreciated and showing that it had the capacity of making a huge fashion statement.
“Most people tried talking me out of going for this concept but ever since models wearing my designs have hit the ramp, people are now really appreciating it and I am getting a lot of inquiries, locally and regionally.
“My specialty is urban, dusty fairy, stress and classic casual gothic; I want to steal my way to the top showing that as young as I am I can do things that most people think are difficult,” she said.
Sidumisile said in the next five years she aims at letting her fashion label — BlackRunnaway — grow as well as participate in more fashion shows to share experiences with other designers and spread her gothic concept.
“While this started off as a hobby, one should realise that this is now a career so I am obviously looking at growing in this industry and ensuring that I manage to put bread on my table.
“It is one of the reasons I chose the name BlackRunnaway which clarifies my being black, proud and being able to break out from the rest in emancipating myself, try to work on my desires and quit just dreaming,” she said.
The fifth born in a family of six, Sidumisile said her mother was initially vehemently against her taking a career in designing but through sheer determination she has managed to prove to her that she loved what she was doing.
“My father passed away when I was nine years old, my mother on the other hand has been very protective of me since I was young, it was very difficult for me to convince her of this career move as she wanted me to go to university instead. She only accepted that this was what I wanted a couple of weeks ago and gave me her blessings, which is one difficult thing to do when it comes to my mother,” said the designer.
Online Reporter