Models on the catwalk during the Kenya Fashion Awards at Alliance Française in Nairobi on August 16, 2014. Ten categories of designers were feted at the event. PHOTO | CHARLES KAMAU
The second Kenya Fashion Awards was held last Saturday at the Alliance Française Gardens to celebrate the best in the industry.
The finalists, both established and budding designers who have made a mark in the industry, were part of the audience or backstage dressing the models for the runway show.
“This event is basically a platform to be noticed first and then they [winners] get to establish themselves,” says Kenya Fashion Awards director Ngau Kyule.
The runway show, however, was not only for the nominees but also for other designers to showcase their work. For others it was an entry point into the Kenyan market, like jewellery designer Elena Muketha who moved to the country from Russia a year ago.
Kenya Fashion Awards organisers say that the industry has amazing talent that should be recognised.
Kyule points out that music and film industries have their own awards such as the Kisima Music Awards and Kalasha Film and Television Awards respectively.
“The idea was to really get people in the industry appreciated. We looked for talent in the fashion industry because Kenya is becoming the home of fashion. What is necessary is to now look for fashion designers wherever they are and get to build them.”
Most fashion awards and competitions in Kenya usually seek to discover new talent.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, fashion awards were plenty and they discovered some of the leading designers today.
For the Smirnoff International Fashion Awards (Kenya), which ran from 1995 to 2002, produced Monica Kanari, Patricia Mbela and John Kaveke while M-Net’s reality TV show Catwalk Kenya in 2007 brought Katungulu Mwendwa into the limelight.
Although these kinds of high-profile fashion awards have taken a break, others have come up with the latest being Festival for Fashion and Arts whose FAFA Insight in 2012 discovered Jamil Walji and Waithira Kibuchi last year.
The Safari Fashion Runway Show, a reality TV programme by the Association of Fashion Designers-Kenya, has already held its auditions and is gearing up for production. African Designers for Tomorrow, another competition by Fashion Africa started by Waridi Schrobsdorff, is searching for its own talent.
“The essence of Kenyan Fashion Awards is to discover new talent, mentor, award and possibly get people to come and support them,” says Kyule. “We know without support they are just going to die. That is why are working tirelessly to get the financial support needed as well.”
The Kenya Fashion Awards plans to mentor young designers as they have done with the models next year.
Schrobsdorff, in her previous interview with the Business Daily, said that for the African fashion industry to grow, training is needed. She says she is willing to share her experience in fashion business with budding designers.
FAFA Insight winner and the two runners-up are mentored by top fashion designers to come up with a collection which is showcased at the FAFA Gala night alongside established designers.
During the Safari Fashion Runway Show, judges with different expertise in fashion will be chosen and would be expected to guide the competitors on their designs.
At the Kenya Fashion Awards, judges picked the best designer student while winners in the other categories were selected by the public through online voting, which the organisers say is credible.
“In total, we had more than 10,000 votes. It could have been more if the awareness was there,” says Kyule.
Based on past experience, local fashion awards and competition do not last long because they are not sustainable. The industry needs to look for alternative and better ways to discover talent in the fashion industry as well as complement the current efforts despite the challenges the sector faces.
