With insights from Paris-based upcycling pioneer Amah Ayivi and Cape Town’s luxury fashion expert Tamburai Chirume, local designers were provided with a blueprint for success in an increasingly competitive industry
GOSEGO MOTSUMI
The future of Botswana’s fashion industry is being rewritten. Création Botswana’s exclusive masterclass, The Business of Fashion: From Vision to Venture, brought global industry experts to Gaborone to equip local designers with the knowledge and strategies to build sustainable, market-ready brands.
With insights from Paris-based upcycling pioneer Amah Ayivi and Cape Town’s luxury fashion expert Tamburai Chirume, the recent event provided a blueprint for success in an increasingly competitive industry. This was important because beyond aesthetics, the fashion industry is a multi-billion-dollar business driven by strategy, branding and innovation.
Turning trash into treasure
As a matter of fact, this was the key message at Création Botswana’s masterclass that was held at the National Museum and Art Gallery in Gaborone last week. The session explored brand building, sustainability, and global market access featuring two internationally acclaimed experts, each sharing their journey from passion to profitable enterprise.
Amah Ayivi, the visionary behind Paris-based brand Marché Noir, captivated attendees with his epic journey of transforming African vintage clothing into high-fashion collectibles. His brand was born of love for vintage clothing and he quickly realised that what the world discarded as “trash” could be reimagined as treasure.
“I didn’t study fashion,” he shared. “I started with style.”
Fashionable and profitable
Ayivi built his business model around sustainability and craftwork, proving that African heritage can be both fashionable and profitable. He advised designers to analyse the market before launching a collection, to diversify income streams beyond just selling clothes, and to expand into community building, online sales, and creative collaborations, as well as using storytelling to attract an audience, just as he did by promoting his brand’s ethos on Instagram before sustainability became a mainstream trend.
“The fashion world is all about desire,” he said. “But behind it, there are financial realities. If you want to sustain your brand, you must create an ecosystem around it.”
The power of African luxury
From Cape Town, Tamburai Chirume, co-founder of ONEOFEACH, shared how her African luxury brand is redefining heritage craftsmanship with contemporary design. She highlighted Africa’s longstanding tradition of sustainability, urging designers to focus on the business side of fashion to ensure that their brand is not just creative but is financially viable.
She encouraged brand storytelling because today’s customers don’t just buy clothes but buy a brand’s journey, impact, quality and branding to change the global narrative that African fashion lacks refinement. “African fashion is rising,” Chilume stated. “But we must address issues like branding and finishing. We need to prove that high-quality products can come from Africa.”
Building a fashion movement
Beyond a one-time event, Création Botswana’s initiative is building a movement. The Director of Alliance Française, Angélique Saverino, outlined the roadmap for upcoming training sessions:
- April – An immersive learning trip to South Africa, focusing on design, distribution, and marketing.
- May – Mastering brand development and collection design.
- June – Training in brand communication, promotion and strategy.
- July – The final phase where designers will present their business-ready fashion collections.
Building a movement
“This is not just a training course but is also a movement,” she said. “We are building a community of fashion entrepreneurs dedicated to innovation, creativity and business success.”
As Botswana’s designers absorb these lessons and expand their reach, one thing is clear: the country’s fashion industry is on the brink of a transformation. With the right strategies in place, local brands can thrive on the international stage.
As Création Botswana’s masterclass proves, the future of African fashion is sustainable, market-driven, and limitless – and it starts with bold entrepreneurs who dare to build beyond the runway.