Paheja Siririka
WINDHOEK- The Windhoek Fashion Week (WFW) 2019 dénouement off in style at Dinapama Manufacturing and Supplies Factory with an impeccable collection. The event saw the launch of the ‘Helao’ collection, which featured amazing pieces with prominent Odelela material dominating by Deon Angelo.
Angelo, a local Namibian designer who studied in Milan, was one of the winners of the David Tlale Internship program launched in Namibia at the Windhoek Fashion Week 2016.
“I am happy to see that he has grown to become an established designer WFW," one of the co-founder of WFW said Luis Munana.
The Windhoek Fashion Week 2019 ran from November 5 to 9, 2019 and commenced with an in-depth fashion talk moderated by Pedro Oberholster, who spoke on ‘The Future of Fashion in the Retail Industry of Tomorrow’. Ideas were exchanged on where designers can go and what they need to do if they want to aim high and have their work sold at places like Maerua Mall, among others.
This year’s fashion week saw 35 designers showcase their work. “We had five students from the College of The Arts (COTA), two students from the University of Johannesburg, 10 beginners, 10 emerging designers, eight established designers in total 35 designers showcased their work,” explained Munana.
The fashion week had a total of five slots and two private shows for runway showcases, which consisted of Private Show 1 - Ingo Shanyenge, slot 1 - Fashion Introduction: students showcasing for the first time,
slot 2 - Dress To Win: Beginners, slot 3: Emerging Designers, slot 4: Emerging designers along with international designers and local established designers, slot 5: Established local designers along international established designers and lastly the private Show 2 - Deon Angelo launched his collection called ‘Helao’.
Entertainment Now! asked the organising committee where it sees the show in the next five years. “Windhoek Fashion Week grows every year with new ideas and the crowd increases. The audience this year saw people from different walks of life coming together to enjoy Namibian fashion,” said Munana.
He said in five years’ time, WFW should be a fashion hub in Africa where Namibians and other Africans come together to celebrate and appreciate fashion. “Namibian fashion should have been introduced to the world by then and WFW is the driving force that pushes Namibian designs to Africa and the rest of the world,” believed Munana.