By Frederick Philander
WINDHOEK
A specialist French theatre, ballet, costume and fashion designer with worldwide recognition for her unique designing style, is currently training Namibian design students.
Designer Fred (not an uncommon French name for a woman) Sathal has been working with fashion design students from the KACA and UNAM for the past two weeks and will continue to do so until next Friday.
“I am in Namibia to introduce and promote non-institutional methods of creativity among Namibian student designers, and I have been enjoying doing just that, teaching and practically training them for the past two weeks,” said Fred in French through an interpreter.
She has been creatively involved and exchanging creative ideas with the young students at the Katutura Community Arts Centre.
“I have worked on many big musical stage productions in Paris for a number of years. My work has taken me to many far-off places in the world, something I enjoy very much and appreciate. On top of it, I have my own design label, which I promote around Europe, in France, Spain and further afield in the United States, Japan and Brazil,” she said proudly of her work, which encourages students to focus on their designs of the whole structure of their creations.
Fred is apparently one of only ten such creative persons in the world who does what she does best.
“My work style basically includes a bit of many spheres of designing, even a bit of sculpture. It is indeed an advanced technique and method that forms the basis of my creations. I am here to encourage students to defy conventional creations from a decorative depth to something more holistic. I am also sowing the seeds for more inventive designing for whatever field,” said Fred, who lives in Marseilles but works in Paris.
There is no literature available on her kind of design style.
“Students learn the method directly from me during workshop situations like this one. Their success with the method is entirely dependent on their own receptiveness and interpretation of their own works. People around the world accept my work on productions as unique, but necessary,” said Fred, who last week gave a lecture on her work in the capital to aspiring designers.
Fred has been training designers in other African countries such as Niger, Zambia and Zimbabwe.