Pinehas Nakaziko
Windhoek-As the second edition of the Windhoek Fashion Week draws closer, fashionistas, fashion designers, bloggers and models all seem ready for what promises to be a glittery event on the local entertainment calendar.
One of the top local designers, Melisa Poulton, invited the media to her workshop in Windhoek West last week for a sneak peek at what she is going to present at this year’s Windhoek Fashion Week, and to talk about her new summer collection, Earth Fire.
Organisers have scheduled the event for the NamPower Convention Centre for four days from next Wednesday until Saturday.
Melisa, who describes her fashion style as dramatic, bold and powerful, will be winding up day three of the week on Friday with her well-crafted designs themed, Feed the fire to your soul, and let it be flames. She will display a collection that consists of 23 items.
“My designs are based on the elements of the earth fire. Each season I choose a different element and base my designs on this element,” Melisa explains.
For the 2017/2018 summer she chose earth fire as it’s a good element to work with in the summer, and she just wanted to do something different – something much bolder and something to bring out the fire in all women.
“In general I like working with light fabrics such as chiffon. I sourced my material from Cape Town and some from Namibia. My main fabrics are chiffon, crepe, tulle, mesh net and satin, which are very soft silky fabrics,” Melisa says.
The element earth fire has a large amount of movement, so she tried to work with fabrics that would show this.
“For something extra I have also hand dyed some of the fabrics to give them a catchy look.”
Melisa says this is a collection for all women and all types of occasions. Her collections are ready to wear, haute couture, evening and cocktail dresses.
“This collection is there to bring out the fire in all women, to see themselves as glamorous, and to walk into a room and make all heads turns.
Fire is a rich collection, which consists of rich colours and fabrics, she says.
She likes to play around with her source of fabrics, keeping to the trends and creating some of her own along the way.
“I try to be as creative as possible and create something new.”
Melisa is very excited about this year’s fashion week and happy to know that the Namibian fashion industry is busy growing to achieve bigger and better things.
“I hope that this year’s fashion week will bring lots of opportunities for all Namibian designers.”