Cultural Exchange Benefits BRICS Countries' Fashion Industry, Zimbabwe Fashion Week Founder Says
15:40 29.11.2023 (Updated: 15:56 29.11.2023)
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On November 28 to December 2, the Russian capital Moscow is hosting the BRICS+ Fashion Summit. Designers, entrepreneurs, experts in the fashion industry as part of over 60 delegations from all over the world are taking part in the event.
BRICS countries' fashion industry could benefit from cultural exchange between the member states of the bloc, Founder and Executive Producer of Zimbabwe Fashion Week, Priscilla Chigariro told Sputnik Africa on the sidelines of the BRICS+ Fashion Summit.
"Like I said in my speech, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. We learn from each other, and with that cultural exchange, we learn what other people have already done. And it also teaches us to kind of scale up and better the things that we are working on," she said.
Chigariro added that fashion facilitates "extensive cultural exchange" and enables people from around the world to "consume other cultures."
"I think that fashion offers us a platform for extensive cultural exchange. Everybody is always interested in other people's cultures. And also people like to consume other people's cultures. So the fact that we're coming together offers us this opportunity to be able to have this cultural exchange, to learn from each other, to learn what other people have already done," the businesswoman noted.
Speaking about Africa's role in the modern fashion world, the continent is an "emerging market" in terms of this industry and its full potential is yet to be unlocked.
"I feel that Africa is an emerging market. We have a lot of interesting creations. Thus far, I feel like there's been a lot of interest in East and West African fashion. I come from the southern region of Africa where our ability to actually be able to provide for the world as far as fashion is concerned has yet to be tapped," she underlined.
According to Chigariro, in order to boost competitiveness of local African fashion brands, it is necessary to improve the quality of their products as well as to teach them how to efficiently use social media.
"I feel that the quality of our products is something that we are working on right now. Education as well is something that will strengthen us, like learning how to use the internet more efficiently, take advantage of social media, etc. This is something that has been refined in the West, but it's something that we as Africans are still learning how to embrace and learning how to take advantage of," she highlighted.
The businesswoman went on to say that "the visibility" of a product on social media ensures the recognition of a fashion brand.
"Like I said, consuming social media, I think your ability to be more recognizable stems from how much you put your brand out there, and it also creates brand loyalty. The more people see you out there, the more consistent your product appears and the more visible it is. You create more visibility and more awareness," Chigariro stressed.
Commenting on Russia-African and particularly Russia-Zimbabwean cooperation in fashion, she emphasized that Russia is a new market for the African brands and to enter it, they need to create unique, "authentic" products.
"I feel like it's a new market that we need to tap into. And for us to be able to tap into that, I feel like our brands need to be very authentic. We can't create products that are a replica of anything else that's already out there. It's tapping into the niches that we have the ability to print fabrics and the hands-on nature of the way that our designers work, that promotes sustainability, etc. These are things that we need to tap into and look at Russia as a new market, something that we can try to tap into as well and get some interest," the businesswoman explained.
As for the BRICS+ Fashion Summit, Chigariro said that it is a significant event for BRICS countries, and a chance to collaborate and "create more opportunities for local designers."
"I think this is a very important event. It's an opportunity for BRICS countries to actually be able to present our case and to see how we can actually work together with other countries to create more opportunities for our local designers," she noted.
The first BRICS+ Fashion Summit, uniting over 60 delegations from all over the world, is taking place in Moscow.
