Former Miss World 1st Princess, Emma Warreus, has been launched as this year’s face of Botswana Fashion Weekend, organised by international fashion designer, Koketso Chiepe.
Warreus stated that this event was “an opportunity to come back home and support local talent after spending a lot of time in the international scene”.
Speaking at a press briefing, Chiepe said that this year designers will be showcasing their summer 2013 edition through exhibitions and runway shows which will be running throughout the whole weekend.
Warreus explained that this will not only be a platform for designers but for the whole fashion industry as a whole, including models, jewellery designers and stylists as well.
Warreus further explained that a lot of her colleagues in the modelling fraternity got a lot of exposure from last year’s event and were now established as models and had used the event as a means of building a portfolio and a working relationship with the designers who continued to use them for their various activities.
Chiepe also indicated that this event was not exclusively narrowed down to local designers but they were also expecting designers from South Africa and as far as New York. The items of clothing that are expected to be showcased are show pieces (Couture) and also functional clothes that can be worn on daily occasions.
Fatima Mekgwe, one of the designers who exclusively designs men’s wear, described her line as “Funky, hot and sexy,” saying that people should expect colourful mixes. Another designer, Kelebogile Merafhe, indicated that her collection explored the prints and she too will be using a lot of colour.
According to Chiepe, this year’s event has hooked a representative from the United Kingdom River Island Retailer, international media, such as Vogue Magazine, which is often attributed to as “The Fashion Bible,” as well as many production companies and buyers from South Africa.
Chiepe has personally handpicked all the participating designers basing on storyboards they had submitted and she stated that when they are ready, she will take them on board during the London Fashion Week. Beneficiaries from last year’s event, Designers known as Mothers For All, are said to be designing for renowned fashion houses, like Chanel and are said to have orders coming in from as far as Sweden, according to Chiepe.
The Media Awareness and logistics for the event are being handled by Media house News Company and, according to Tebatso Kgakge, the show is scheduled for the 10th and 11th August 2012 and the price range for tickets is between P50 and P600.
