By: Mohamed Jalloh
In a bid to harness the economic potential of contemporary fashion and design, stakeholders and journalists have deliberated on how to promote the local industry for the first time in Serra Leone.
The engagement took place at the Invest Salone conference room at Barracks road, Murray town Freetown on the 21st July 2022.
Among the stakeholders that graced the meeting were Rajiv Chatterjee, head of Fashion and Design school at Blue Crest College, Magerette Kadi CEO of Pangea, Avril Pratt of Invest Salone, Steven Douglas, Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie and Journalists from the print and broadcast media.
In what could be described as a rich surfeit of ideas about fashion and design, experts dilated on making the local industry sustainable without losing sight of environmental safety production.
Speakers chime on the insatiable taste for second clothing among Sierra Leoneans which should be discouraged in place of locally made fashion and design clothing.
Over the years, the exogenous influences of popular culture have determined the perception of local people when it comes to fashion and design. But, it was agreed that a paradigm shift is gradually taking place with more and more people opting for locally made textile products.
It was settled upon that local manufactures must begin with the rudiments by conceptualizing the needs and tastes of the masses and become trend setters in fashion and design.
The issue of pricing was also captured as it would go a long way in seducing people to forsake Asian and Western made brands for less expensive locally made products.
It was further established that merchandise strategies must be employed by local designers to dominate both the local and international market by creating appreciable standards in the industry.
Having realized that appreciation for locally made products must transgressed beyond “Ashobi” and Friday adornments, fashion designers must create a niche for their brands by devising innovative ways that fits into the modern trend.
“Fashion trends must be anticipated for them to be appreciated”, Rajiv Chatterjee, head of Fashion and Design school at Blue Crest College, pointed out.
With the effluxion of time, the industry must be allowed to mature in order to maximize its fullest potential and yield the necessary financial returns to be sustainable.
The issue of sustainability and appreciation were prominent during the discussion.
Since government is the biggest consumer of services, it was reckoned that lobbying those in governance to support the local industry is vital if fashion were to take off in Sierra Leone.
It should be noted that Sierra Leone has a long pedigree when it comes to the appreciation of locally made textile such as Ronko and Gara, however, the culture seems to dissipate over the years due to the Interplay of external factors.
Nevertheless, not all is lost as the main objective of such a gathering is to resuscitate interest in local fashion and design.
Therefore, the role of policy makers and journalists are indispensable to reviving interest in the locally manufactured textile industry.
The inclusion of gara tie-dyeing and batik production in school curriculum and the adoption of a fashion/aesthetic law are some of the ways to revive interest in locally made fashion and design.
Two notable personalities, Fatima Bio the first lady of the republic of Sierra Leone and Yvonne Aki- sawyer the mayor of Freetown were held in reserve as role models when it comes to the adornment of African or locally made clothing.
