Local designers for Festival for African Fashion and Arts (FAFA)

Local designers Mothusi Lesolle of iZaura and Lesedi Matlapeng of Keffseddy will be amongst African designers  scheduled to showcase at the Festival for African Fashion & Arts (FAFA), one of the biggest fashion shows in Africa’s social calendar on May 31st in Nairobi, Kenya.

 
The festival will incorporate a Gala dinner and a show of top Kenyan fashion brands together with regional or Pan-African guest designers.  This year’s theme is Fashion for Peace, and the focus will be on the South Sudan conflict and part of the proceedings will go to one charity organization- Seed of Hope.

 
“I am looking forward to the fashion show; to come back home, share and put to practice all I that I would have learned from other designers. I will be showcasing a new collection and since the theme is Fashion for Peace, I made my collection from one fabric and made different designs. This design means we are all the equal (one fabric) and all of us (as different as we are) can come together to attain peace,” Lesolle said.

 
Matlapeng, who was voted best designer for the 2013 Miss Botswana fashion show, expressed her excitement, “I am happy and did not expect to get an invite, this means I can finally achieve my dream of showcasing my designs outside Botswana. I plan to learn as much as possible so I produce international quality designs,” she said.

 
The organizers of FAFA say the event merges creations of established designers from around the continent with that of emerging talent.
This year, there will be 18 Kenyan Designers, one collection by a South Sudanese designer and the two designers from Botswana.
Festival for African Fashion and Arts (FAFA) was set up in 2008 during the post-election violence which took place in Kenya. FAFA’s objective is to draw attention to African talent and sophistication in the fields of fashion, music and the arts and empowering people as well as promoting  peace.