Chance for Kenyan Designers to Win 'Aspire Fashion Prize'

In April I will be launching a fashion competition in partnership with the Vivo clothing brand. I designed the competition as an opportunity for local designers to get a chance to understand what it means to commercialise design. By making locally produced apparel more affordable and accessible to local consumers. Think Elle Rising Star for Kenya but without the magazine.
It took just one conversation with the visionary CEO of the Vivo Clothing brand, Wandia Gichuru, to realise that we shared a similar vision. This was to offer meaningful opportunities beyond fame by opening young designers to resources that will define how they eventually run their own businesses.
Says Wandia “I am constantly impressed by the talent I see locally and I would love to see how through my brand I can offer mentorship opportunities for young designers.’ She adds, “While we offer a range of apparel, it will be exciting to inject an element of design into the Vivo brand and begin to be seen as a player in the fashion industry.”
The Aspire Fashion Prize is a competition that will select from an open call for submissions, three young designers and place them within the Vivo brand production and retail environment for a period of three weeks collectively.
The three designers will then make a four-piece mini collection showing their distinct signature but keeping in line with the Vivo aesthetic. This collection will be presented before a jury and a private audience and one winning designer will get the chance to design a 10-piece collection which will be sold under the “Vivo Aspire” label in select Vivo stores across the city.
This is the first time a competition has been designed to purposely expose young designers in Kenya into a real production environment with the reward of seeing their clothes in stores across the city. It is also the first time the internship will be paid and rewarded. The winning designer will be paid Sh100,000 for the collection.
It started over a casual coffee. CEO of Vivo, Wandia Gichuru was looking at the industry and reflecting over how much it really cost be a designer. We discussed the challenges of selling “design” to a market that was looking for fashionable yet functional and affordable apparel.
To understand the context of this conversation, one would need to understand a few things about Wandia and VIVO.
Wandia Gichuru is a fashion entrepreneur and founder of Vivo. Five years ago when the brand was founded, it was to fulfill a need for fitness and dance apparel. Her first store was at a little pocket of the Junction. It supplied a mix of ballet costumes for young girls and dancing shoes as well as women’s fitness pieces for dance, yoga and fitness. She imported clothes from Asia, South Africa and the UK – the brand was relevant for a growing segment of the market. Soon Wandia was looking to expand, opening stores across the city and even one in Mombasa. The brand also began to expand it’s offering. The designer interacted with most of her clientele who asked for clothes for work, travel, and holiday, and so the brand evolved.
The Vivo brand started to evolve becoming a little of a pop culture brand. It was featured on the cast of the KISS TV morning opinion breakfast show, The Chama worn by all the co-hosts, Shan Bartley, Valentine Njoroge, Grace Msalame and Kamal Kaur. The brand is also favoured by personalities such as Caroline Mutuko, Suzie Beauty, and is a regular feature on Sharon Mundia’s personal style blog – ThisisEss.com.
Regular engagement with women meant that Wandia kept abreast with the growing fashion industry, it’s challenges and the opportunities to produce some of her clothes locally. Today the brand produces over 60 per cent of her the entire brand’s stock locally.
The Aspire Fashion Prize – How to compete
The competition is looking for young designers with a fashion background and who preferably are in their final year of fashion school or who have been in the industry for less than three years and are currently not attached to an existing fashion label.
We consider this opportunity for young designers who are keen to understand the real workings of the retail industry. Understanding pricing, choice of materials and what the consumer really buys is important for the success of the success of any apparel brand. The campaign will run across eight months and its success will be a step towards seeing the growth of a young designer set for years to come.

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