"Most people fail to achieve in live because of the falacy that they are still young and have time to spare"-Munya
You might wonder how one manages to be a fashion show organiser in this day and age. Munyaradzi Chihungwa has all the answers for you,in an interview with Munya Chiyan the founder of Harare fashion Week tells us how he managed to give birth to one of the successful fashion shows in Zimbabwe .He also gives us words of wisdom on how to achieve in life.
TR:Munya you are the brandchild of the brand Harare Fashion Week. How did it all started.
MC:The idea behind HFW started in the winter of the year 2017 amidst a conversation. I was having with two designer friends who were both searching for a platform to showcase their seasonal collections. They had settled in their minds to join funds and head to a foreign country only for an opportunity to showcase their collections.
This puzzled me to think that here were (in my own eyes) two of the finest male designers in the country but they had no place or opportunity to showcase their collections in their own homeland.
On my way home that Saturday I started to picture in my mind a show that would truly benefit the designer, a platform not only for my friends but rather for all Zimbabwean designers who suffered the same conundrum.
A week went by and the idea was still fresh in mind, I had started taking notes from my imagination straight into my notebook. Once it was on note I started researching, googling, and scavenging information about all other shows that had come and gone, their strengths, their failures and everything inbetween up until I created a blue print that was so strong it had to became reality.
No matter how perfect I thought my blueprint was,I paid the price of sleepless nights, rejected proposals, Reschedulings and many other speed hump until on the 15th of December 2017, 'WE' had the first Harare fashion week. (Note I say 'We' because the ultimate realisation wasn't the effort of a single person but rather that of several induviduals that had one goal. Our goal was simply, "to provide a platform for local designers to showcase their creativity to local and foreign fashion buyers".
In the fashion world you deal with a lot of people, and a lot of egos.
TR:Tell us about the first event that the Harare Fashion Week hosted?
MC:Our first event was a show themed ' Alive', it was hosted at News cafe in Borrowdale. This show was our baptism into the fashion showcasing industry, we became more alive after this show than we had ever been, it was an eye opening experience, and a realisation of a dream.
We learnt a good lesson from the show, and we celebrate that we achieved our main aim and showed that fashion is alive in Zimbabwe. We hosted just over 80 fashion and food lovers. It was an exchange of fashion and food due to the nature of our venue.
We were honoured to showcase some of the finest designers in Zimbabwe at our first show, we were also graced by Karen of Top model, and Mimi the blogger just to name a few. The featured brands include; Tapfumanei Munenge cotoure, KudaSeven, Military touch, Bahia Luz, Dutchess by Denise, Face of Africa, and Petrease.
The highlight of this show was the debut showcase of Thembelani Mubochwa's Military touch collection.
TR:During the first event what challenges did you face and how did you manage to pass through them?
MC: Our main challenge was getting a venue, this led to a delay in our advertisements and everything else that followed. We were finally bailed out by way of Sponsorship which came from Newscafe.
TR:There are few,young gentlemen in Zimbabwe who can come up with such a brand. What's your take about young men like yourself getting involved in unisex fashion events?
MC: I understand where you are coming from when you call me, "young", however in Africa/ Zimbabwe most potential achievers are in a comfort zone called being young, let's call it the'-I-have-time-syndrome'.
Most people fail to achieve in live because of the falacy that they are still young and have time to spare.
I have made a personal decision to refuse that I have time to spare and this has become the driving force that stops me from watching TV and chilling with the friends, this force wakes me up in the middle of the night and pushes me to work! HFW takes my time, it's had me sleeping 3/2 hours at times, it's a struggle and I had to come out of my comfort zone to attain the vision.
So my take with so called young people, is they should be ready to leave their comfort zone. They should be ready to make sacrifices, they should be ready to take out a loan and pay for loses just so they fulfil their promise and protect their honour.
They should be ready to be professional, to make decisions, and to deal with the consiquence of those decisions.
In the fashion world you deal with a lot of people, and a lot of egos. You should stay humble and be the level headed one if you are going to see any successful fashion event through. The best selling book in the world has it somewhere between its chapters that, "in the multitude of counsellors there is safety", these wise words have prompted me to creating a round table of advisors that help me to see aspects of the situation which I'm blinded from seeing due to my attachment to the project. I therefore recommend constantly seeking council and having an ever learning attitude towards life. If you mess up acknowledge it, correct it and quickly move on.
TR:Many brands have been showcased across the Harare Fashion Week who are some of those brands?
MC:Some of the brands we have showcased under HFW include; Zuvva, Zargusia, KudaSeven, Military touch by Thembalani Mubochwa, Bahia Luz, Empress Primy designs, and many more.
TR:When one takes a look at Harare Fashion week,it's a platform that has given models from outside the province of Harare to showcase their talents.
MC:Harare Fashion Week is designed at a blueprint level to cater not only for local provinces but for the rest of Africa, that's why we involve all Africans.
The Nomenclature of international Fashion weeks around the world has them named after a city whilst they represent entire countries, and regions crossing national border lines. An example of this is one of the four fashion capitals of the world; Paris Fashion week which has international involvement from designer levels, down to models yet it's name is a specific city.
TR:Where do you place yourself in Zimbabwe's fashion industry's future ?
MC: I see myself at the helm of the fashion industry as the Minister of fashion in Zimbabwe.
TR:This year what should we expect from your brand the Harare Fashion Week?
MC:This year HFW is scheduled for the month of August, venue and dates are yet to be confirmed. This show will be our fourth show since 2017, as well as the only show for the year 2019. This year we are focused on improving product quality, maximising productive efficiency, enhancing market penetration, and increasing competitiveness of our product on both the local and regional market. We intend to involve more coporates and we shall be more formal in our approach except for the closing show where we will stick to tradition and give fashion lovers the glitz and the glam they are used to.
TR:Any words of wisdom to some young gentleman who look up to you?
MC. I would encourage those that look up to me to Stay humble, an think!
By Tapiwa Rubaya
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