Seychelles Fashion Week opens with new talent on runway

The grand opening showcased the work of three Seychellois designers. (Joe Laurence, Seychelles News Agency)

Seychelles Fashion Week, an event in which winners will get a chance to participate in the Paris Fashion week 2023, opened officially on Monday with a mixture of colours interpreted in casual and evening wear. 

This year's event, which was launched at the Maison Marengo in the eastern Mahe district of Au Cap, differs from the past ones. This edition will take place not only on Mahe, the main island but also on Praslin and La Digue, the second and third most populated islands as well as Ste Anne Island.

The grand opening showcased the work of three Seychellois designers - Christine Reginald with her plus size collection, Emmally Hoareau featuring a black and yellow collection and a first-time participant, Charlise Fideria.

Fideria, the youngest in the group, who is only 20 years of age, came straight from Europe to participate, where she has been studying for the past years and said that she worked on the designs before she went to study in Europe.

A design in the collection of Charlise Fideria, the youngest designer. (Joe Laurence, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Compared to other designers, Fideria only had one month to prepare her collection because she was offered the opportunity by Terry Carolla, the chief executive of the Seychelles Fashion Week.

On the presentation of her collection, Charlise said "there's always room for improvement, but for what has happened today I'm happy how things came out."

For this year's Fashion Week, Carolla said that it is being organised in collaboration with well known international designers such as Anggy Haif and AHDV Fashion Paris who is the sponsor for Seychelles Fashion Week 2022.

The winner of this year's event will receive a cash prize of €2,000 and training in France for six months, worth €40,000, and a chance to participate in Paris Fashion week 2023.

Models showcasing Christine Reginald's plus size collection. (Joe Laurence, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

The organisers intend to make the prize a yearly attraction for young designers from Seychelles and to eventually encourage students to join the Seychelles Institute of Arts and Design (SIAD) and train in the fashion industry.

Carolla said, "The future is bright for Seychelles Fashion Week because we have international photographers who came to Seychelles on their own merits as well as international channels."

There are also some international newcomers in Seychelles fashion week among which is Londiwe Ndlovu, the owner of Ahzyon Couture Brand from South Africa.

She will take part in the 3rd show on Praslin with her collection which revolves around traditional wear mostly for brides and red-carpet dresses.

"I want people to experience the love through my collection and the confidence, I feel like women should experience themselves through the garment and through the way that they wear them! They should have confidence in it," she said.