Saturday, April 20, 2024

Featured Video

Latest Stories

Top 10 Music

Upcoming Events

Zomba City Festival

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 10:00:00 UTC @ Botanic Garden - 2024 Zomba City Festival is schedulled to take place on 26 to 28 April at Botanic Garden in Zomba This is a festival for all ages in the historic mountain city of Zomba. Celebrate Cultu... More Info
Queens Club Shut Down

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 19:00:00 UTC @ Queens Club - Queens Club Presents "Queens Club Shut Down" with music performances by Kelly Kay, Charisma, Teddy Makadi and Praise Umali. The show will take place at Queens Club in Mzuzu on 26 April... More Info

Fashion in Malawi by Colleen

It used to baffle me that with all the beautiful cloth that you can find around Malawi, there seemed to be a dearth of good tailors and seamstresses and fashion designers. Malawian women would buy the cloth (Chitenge) but never make anything from it, for fear of it being “ruined”. After a few such attempts myself, I understood their plight and resorted to just guying cloth as well.

Moving to Ghana is a dream for a fashionista – or in my case, someone who likes finding new fabrics, designing, and wearing interesting dresses. That’s not to say that the experience was perfect, since a well-fitted dress still required multiple fittings at the tailor and anywhere between a week to a month to make well, but as a whole, Ghanaian style was a thing to marvel. As I learned more, and became increasingly connected, met a lot of artists in the industry – the models, the designers and the actors – both those that tailored to a Ghanaian market and those that had made it internationally in Europe or elsewhere. In my mind, that gap still existed in the Malawian market, and was a potential that could and should be remedied.

So I was surprised to find when I came back to Malawi this time that there IS an upcoming fashion scene. There is now an annual fashion show, featuring mostly Malawian and some other African designers. Some used the Malawian and African cloth with western styles, some used western fabrics with Malawian styles, and some used a mixture in between. Some were spectacular, others need a bit of rethinking.

When I think of Malawi, I don’t think Fashion. It doesn’t jump to mind the same way that fashion and Paris go together or Malawi and village. But that doesn’t matter because the scene does exists. And with some nurturing and exposure, hopefully it will grow. Hopefully it will inspire investment into the currently floundering textile, tailoring and design sector. Hopefully it will inspire a generation of Malawians that want to and feel a sense of pride when wearing Made-in-Malawi dresses and clothes, not just knock-off western styles. While the high-end fashion industry is unlikely to look to Malawi as their next target market, it is encouraging to find that Malawian designers are starting find their own way in the local fashion industry.

Although I’ve been in Africa for 3 yeas now, I love when moments and events like these can make me say “this is not Malawi” and then shift that perspective in a single motion to say “this is Malawi” and equally as deserving of recognition as a village.

To all designers, artists and fashionists in Malawi: well done. Share your ideas, work hard, and I look forward to seeing what you produce next year.

Zikomo Colleen

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel:

Related Posts

59 COMMENTS

  1. I’m really loving the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems? A couple of my blog audience have complained about my site not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox. Do you have any suggestions to help fix this issue?|

  2. Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve visited your blog before but after browsing through some of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m certainly happy I came across it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back often!|

  3. This is really interesting, You’re a very skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your excellent post. Also, I have shared your web site in my social networks!|

  4. I believe what you published was very logical. However, what about this? what if you were to write a awesome post title? I mean, I don’t wish to tell you how to run your blog, but what if you added a headline that makes people want more? I mean BLOG_TITLE is a little plain. You ought to glance at Yahoo’s home page and watch how they write post headlines to grab people to open the links. You might try adding a video or a pic or two to get readers excited about everything’ve written. Just my opinion, it could make your posts a little livelier.|

  5. Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such info much. I was looking for this particular info for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.|

  6. I have been surfing online more than 2 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be a lot more useful than ever before.|

  7. Awesome blog! Do you have any suggestions for aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m completely overwhelmed .. Any suggestions? Thanks!|

  8. I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!|

  9. I think this is among the such a lot vital information for me. And i am satisfied reading your article. But wanna commentary on few normal issues, The site style is wonderful, the articles is really excellent : D. Good activity, cheers|

  10. An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a coworker who had been doing a little homework on this. And he actually bought me breakfast because I found it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending time to discuss this issue here on your website.|

  11. Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your site. You have some really good articles and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d love to write some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please blast me an email if interested. Kudos!|

  12. What i don’t understood is actually how you’re now not actually much more well-preferred than you may be now. You are very intelligent. You realize thus significantly in terms of this matter, produced me in my view believe it from a lot of varied angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be fascinated except it is one thing to accomplish with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs nice. At all times deal with it up!|

  13. Howdy would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using? I’m going to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a difficult time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S Sorry for getting off-topic but I had to ask!|

  14. Great blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog shine. Please let me know where you got your theme. Thanks a lot|

  15. Please let me know if you’re looking for a writer for your site. You have some really great posts and I feel I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d love to write some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me an e-mail if interested. Cheers!|

  16. Link exchange is nothing else except it is simply placing the other person’s webpage link on your page at suitable place and other person will also do similar for you.|

  17. Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is fundamental and all. But think of if you added some great visuals or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and videos, this site could definitely be one of the very best in its field. Fantastic blog!|

  18. Howdy! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest writing a blog post or vice-versa? My website addresses a lot of the same topics as yours and I think we could greatly benefit from each other. If you might be interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Excellent blog by the way!|

  19. It’s perfect time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I have read this publish and if I could I desire to recommend you few interesting things or suggestions. Maybe you can write subsequent articles referring to this article. I want to learn even more issues about it!|

  20. Hi, i think that i saw you visited my weblog so i came to “return the favor”.I’m trying to find things to improve my website!I suppose its ok to use a few of your ideas!!|

  21. Please let me know if you’re looking for a writer for your weblog. You have some really great articles and I believe I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d love to write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please shoot me an email if interested. Many thanks!|

  22. Heya i’m for the primary time here. I found this board and I to find It truly useful & it helped me out much. I’m hoping to give one thing again and help others like you helped me.|

  23. Howdy! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to check it out. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Outstanding blog and superb style and design.|

  24. I’ve been surfing online more than 2 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the internet will be much more useful than ever before.|

  25. Hey there! I realize this is kind of off-topic but I had to ask. Does managing a well-established blog like yours take a large amount of work? I am completely new to running a blog however I do write in my journal every day. I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my own experience and thoughts online. Please let me know if you have any kind of ideas or tips for new aspiring bloggers. Thankyou!|

  26. Definitely imagine that which you stated. Your favourite justification appeared to be on the net the simplest factor to take into account of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people think about worries that they plainly do not recognize about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the highest and also defined out the whole thing with no need side-effects , other people can take a signal. Will probably be again to get more. Thanks|

  27. Hello this is somewhat of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding know-how so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!|

  28. Hello! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no back up. Do you have any methods to stop hackers?|

  29. Have you ever considered about including a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is important and everything. However think about if you added some great graphics or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with images and video clips, this website could certainly be one of the greatest in its niche. Terrific blog!|

  30. May I simply just say what a comfort to uncover someone that really knows what they are discussing on the net. You actually understand how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More people have to look at this and understand this side of your story. It’s surprising you are not more popular given that you definitely have the gift.|

  31. Hi there just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same results.|

  32. Having read this I believed it was rather enlightening. I appreciate you spending some time and effort to put this article together. I once again find myself personally spending way too much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!|

  33. This design is steller! You most certainly know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Wonderful job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!|

  34. When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Appreciate it!|

  35. Excellent post. I used to be checking continuously this weblog and I’m inspired! Very useful info particularly the closing part 🙂 I take care of such info much. I used to be seeking this certain information for a very long time. Thanks and good luck. |

  36. Thank you, I’ve just been looking for information approximately this subject for ages and yours is the greatest I’ve discovered so far. However, what about the conclusion? Are you positive in regards to the source?|

  37. Just desire to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your post is simply excellent and that i can suppose you’re knowledgeable on this subject. Fine with your permission let me to clutch your feed to stay updated with approaching post. Thanks one million and please continue the rewarding work.|

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Popular Articles