Is fashion culture dying in Windhoek (read, Namibia) ?
The Namibian fashion industry experienced a massive hit during COVID – the entire creative industry in fact.
3 years later, it appears, that is still the case.
Designers are putting out less collections, there are hardly any fashion shows or events. We haven’t heard much from the Fashion Council of Namibia. There seems to be no community either.
What happened? Are Namibian fashion designers creating less? Or are they just not visible enough? Has Shein taken over Namibia too?
Will we wait 350something days to experience fashion every year – because we almost only experience the windhoek fashion culture during Windhoek Fashion Week now?
How do we collectively rebuild the industry?
We looked at how other countries tried to rebuild their fashion industry – we are sharing what we found:
Workshops
We all know workshops are great for learning but also for networking. A platform that helps industry players learn to navigate the industry from where to source affordable fabrics to how to market your fashion brand is crucial in a young industry like ours.
Fashion Festivals
We have plenty music festivals, what if we had fashion festivals too? To supplement MTC Windhoek Fashion Week, Katutura Fashion Week and even The Great Pop Up.
Industry Mixers
We definitely need more nights where we just show up, dressed to the nights, chat fashion, celebrate each other, spark conversations and collaborations and just be merry.
Like when Tanya Daringo hosted The Mixer:
More Fashion Shows
We need designers to host independent fashion shows. Showcase a new line, collaborate with other designers and showcase together to share costs? We just need more than we are currently getting. *insert crying emoji
Collaborations
You know how Nike & Tiffany is collaborating, or New Balance and Aime Leon Dore? Or or… Thebe Magugu & Valentino?
We need Namibian fashion brands to collaborate across and upwards. Yes, maybe a collaboration with Top Score would be great, but what if Linrico Humphries and Chante Jenae could come together and give us a Denim x Linen ready to wear collection???
That would be awesome.
The girlies need more events to get dressed up for, to get together and show out.
Let’s rebuild the Namibian fashion community.
