22 Jan 2017

Over the years, fashion has been part of people’s lives on daily basis.

In Botswana, there has been rise in number of people keen to be professional fashion designers; some did it as a God given talent while others went to school to study it before venturing into it.

Dineo Rakanye of Molepolole had been in the fashion design industry for over 10 years now.

She explained that she loved to study fashion trends and sketch designs, adding that as a fashion designer, she had to take part in every aspect of bringing fashion to the public, from sketches to working with dummy and bringing sewing pieces of cloth together to form a dress or trouser in a pattern a client has chosen.

Rakanye said her love for fashion dated back to her childhood days when she used to draw well figured dolls and then afterwards she would design clothes for them in any chosen pattern.

She said by then her grandmother was a tailer and that’s where she got the desire to follow suit and that’s where her passion to be a designer rooted.  

“After my form five I opted to do secretarial studies but quitted it with the thought of doing my dream work. That’s when I enrolled for a 3 years fashion design course at ABC School of Fashion to upgrade and nurture my talent through academics,” she explains.   

Upon starting her own design business in 2006 based in Ramotswa by then, she self-sponsored herself to buy sowing machines adding that the business was slow because it was in its foundation stages.

She added that did not discourage her but she instead carried on until she was stable.

Having pride in herself that she was able to hire at least one employee to help her in her business, she said it showedgrowth and better profits that her business was her story of success.

Rakanye praises fashion shows for contributing immensely to her business saying that she was able to collaborate with other designers and learn a lot of things she did not know.

Highlighting the importance of advertising as one of the major aspects of business that she didn’t know how beneficial they are to any business.

“Having received numerous awards at different fashion shows both in Molepolole and Gaborone, it has motivated me to work hard and continue satisfying my customer’s needs per their say”, she said. ENDS