Local fashion designers Paidamoyo Chideya aka DeMoyo and Tafadzwa Moyo have urged fashion designers to improve on quality in order to see the local industry compete with foreign brands.
The local fashion industry continues to trail behind foreign brands that the majority of Zimbabweans prefer because they are not only affordable, but also higher in quality.
Speaking at a fashion discussion at the National Gallery on Friday, DeMoyo and Tafadzwa Moyo bemoaned the poor garment quality being produced by local fashion designers.
“The reason why DeMoyo has stood so firm and is growing within the market is that people are naturally gravitating towards it because of quality.
“My clothes will be in magazines and I always make sure that they have that perfect finishing,” she said.
She also added that the good quality needs to be aided with good customer care and public relations as this is an area that most fashion designers are found wanting.
“To set up a successful designing brabd, make sure that your customer is happy and they feel entitled to your product such that they come back and say wearing your garments was an awesome experience,” she added.
Tafadzwa Moyo who recently participated in the International Fashion Showcase in London, shared his experiences saying quality makes or breaks a designer.
“You guys are great designers because what I saw in London is not any different from what I am seeing here, but your quality needs to be worked on because it is still a disaster,” he said.
Fashion Weekend Zimbabwe founder Shamiso Ruzvidzo also aired similar sentiments saying local designers had failed to enter the international market because they are lazy.
She said, “I find the large majority of designers to be lazy because they think they are talented but they don’t brand themselves well and they produce clothes that will lose colour after a single wash, that is wrong and it won’t grow the industry in any way.”
