Fashion Designer in Zanzibar

Fashion Designer in Zanzibar

FAROUQUE ABDELA

Born in Zanzibar from a family of Comoros origin, Farouque Abdela left Zanzibar at 14, two years after the revolution. While in London, he continued the family tradition of embroidery and tailoring by attending the London School of Fashion and, later,

Tailors and Cutters. Throughout his career, he opened shops in Abbey Road and West London, and worked as a costume designer in the film and theatre industry. During his career, Farouque met and worked for Princess Diana on several occasions, opening him up to working with international celebrities and participating in fashion shows around the world. Farouque has shown his designs in Paris, Atlanta, California, New York, South after and Tokyo. In 2004 Farouque moved back to his birth country, Zanzibar, Tanzania, and has continued his work as a designer. He has participated in different fashion events and has more than once helped in empowering young aspiring designers by sharing his knowledge and experiences. With the new project of the atelier, Farouque is combining both his experience as a designer and going back to his roots as a tailor to make unique pieces customized for elegant women.

HADITHI ZETU

"Hadithi Zetu, meaning “Our Stories” in Swahili was given its name by the, founder Rebecca Mandich.  The company began in 2014; however, Rebecca has been independently designing in Stone Town since 2010.She chose the name “Hadithi Zetu” because everything that we interact with in our daily lives has a story. From the words that we speak to the clothes that we wear, we are constantly communicating a story with the environment around us as well as listening to stories that are being told to us.  While every person’s story looks different, they are all beautiful. Within Hadithi Zetu’s unique designs, encompassing a variety of mediums such as kitenge, kanga, bahtik, and wax-print, Hadithi Zetu builds bridges between global fashion trends and traditional culture.

ADAM HASSAN

For over 10 years, Adam Hassan has been the forefront of creating stunning, form fitting handmade gowns that makes every bride and their entire wedding party look fabulous! Adam's collection entails gorgeous and unique evening dresses, abaya dresses,babies dresses and others more fashion in all different styles.From a variety of colors, fabrics and silhouettes, Adam's has many different looks to choose from. We are committed to quality, service, and reliability.

KANGA KABISA

Kanga Kabisa’s aim is to produce unique clothing and accessories of the highest

quality in Zanzibar. We operate with high ethical principles, sourcing materials and labour locally and always ensuring our production is fair. We are the initiators of the local quality producers network – ”Made in Zanzibar” www.madeinzanzibar.com

Kanga Kabisa was born in Zanzibar 2004 when Lotta Gillving was looking for clothes in natural materials for her son Svante and did not find what she was looking for so she decided to design her own. An instant success amongst friends – Kanga Kabisa offered something new and exciting. Today, Kanga Kabisa is a full production shop, managing everything from design to manufacture to sales and marketing.

Their goal is to offer a unique and fair quality alternative from Zanzibar/Tanzania for the whole family. Our products are made from local fabrics called kanga and kitenge. Kabisa is simply completely in Swahili; so Kanga Kabisa means Completely Kanga. The Kanga embodies art, beauty and culture. It is used at any occasion and follows people through life.

UPENDO

Upendo means ‘love‿in Kiswahili, and the Upendo label incorporates love and caring into its entire label. The project includes a sewing school, empowering women through trade skills education, a workshop, and a clothing line. The project started as sewing lessons for local women, and out of that grew the idea for a fair trade clothing line using the beautiful natural fabrics found and made on the island and local, well trained and fairly paid labour. The clothing line now combines the powerful patterns and colours of African fabrics with classic, simple design. Children’s clothing is a particular specialty of Upendo, with bright colours and classic, practical designs. The workshop and shop employ former students under the same roof as the school itself. 

MADE IN AFRICA

Made in Africa shop was started by two foreigners who fell in love with Zanzibar. They decided to bend with Zanzibari  in  creating, developing, and promoting a top of the line clothing brand made in Africa to sell to other countries, supporting the industry that has lost out significantly to imports primarily from Southeast Asia.

Made in Africa realizes the best quality, ethically-made cotton casual wear. The bright colours and bold patterns of Africa, made by Africans to benefit the entire region. All items are 100% made in Africa for Africa. The motto “be creative not cruel” inspires the ethos of Made in Africa in making employment, economic, and environmental decisions.

RIZWAN JANMOHAMED

Rizwan Janmohamed was worked in hospitality before entering the world of fashion dreamed of owning his own fashion label. And he moved to Zanzibar and opened his own store called Aromas and started working as a designer.In order to keep his brand simple and accessible to everyone, his main focus has always been on a good quality product for a reasonable price. Since Rizwan opened his workshop his primary objective has been to create the quintessential Zanzibari style through his clothing and accessories. Rizwan’s goal isn’t to create trendy fashion, but to develop clothes that are timeless classics that will never go out of style from one season to the next. His store carries a wide variety of Zanzibar classic fashion clothing and fashion accessories. 

KIHAGA DESIGNER

Designer Mwarabu Ali Said Majongo was born into several generations of tailoring. Sewing is in Mwarabu’s blood – he grew up working with his father and uncle in their tailoring business and then 1992 he began his own business and in 2002 moved to Zanzibar.He has dressed a wide range of women, ranging from vacationing tourists to high-profile Zanzibar women, including the First Lady and Miss Zanzibar. He has also designed many hotel uniforms and furnishings. 

His designs are ubiquitous around Stone Town and are known for their perfect tailoring and unique combinations of prints and solid fabrics. In October 2011 he started classes for students that come from difficult environment such as orphans and people with disabilities. As of today, Kihaga Youth Training Center Zanzibar has seventeen students ranging in ages of 19 to 29. Already, the intermediate students have completed several pieces of cloth they designed and sewed themselves. These items of clothing will be sold in Kihaga shop with all the profit going toward the upkeep of the Youth Training Center.

Note: Images of this page has been used from fashion week in Zanzibar websites