Fashion designer Anjali waves Tanzania flag in France

Tanzanian fashion designers are going all bold, mixing colours on fabrics to form bold, vibrant designs, you get a stunning African print.

They are pushing the boundaries with a simple “Kitenge” leaving masterpieces in their wake. Anjali Borkhataria, is a fashion designer who waved the Tanzanian flag on French grounds during the Paris Fashion Show that kicked off on September 17. While there, she showcased her new collection dubbed ‘Made of earth, made in Africa’ through her clothing line namely EK-AN-TIK.

Speaking to The Beat, Anjali details that it’s thanks to a Pan African Fashion Brand named Asantii, that she was shortlisted with other five creative designers from different parts of Africa including Nigeria, South Africa, Ivory Coast and Angola to display their works of art on an event called Africa Fashion Up, organized by Share Africa platform in partnership with Balenciaga.

“It was such a major step in my career. Being part of this amazing event, I felt proud of how far I had come as well as being enabled to fly the Tanzanian flag in front of other fashion gurus in the world and most importantly showcasing what Africa has to offer in Paris at such an important event on the global fashion calendar,” Anjali details.

She further reveals that “I felt elated because this opportunity made me envision the next chapter of the design world in Tanzania. I was truly nervous in the beginning of the show because there were many buyers, editors as well as people from Balenciaga, Kenzo and other fashion holders present at the show. It’s quite nerve wrecking when you know these people who know their “stuff” are closely watching your collection.”

As the fashion show commenced, Anjali adjusted to the feeling that the runway was her haven and her creative field to showcase what her brand had in store, the nervousness slowly faded.

“My collection consisted of 14 looks that all reflected the title ‘Made of earth, Made in Africa’ which is about finding fresh meaning in ancient wisdom following an uncertain world. My collection is a pathway to understanding how to make sense of the world that is split into small units. Made of Earth explores the resurgence of localism in a globalised world and the value of looking to the past to inform the future,” says Anjali.

Anjali’s collection was inspired by the palette colour that, according to her, represents both Earth and Africa in terms of different elements including soil, mud, water, greenery, the sun, mountains, and the like, whereas every look stood in place of these elements.

With every look being showcased at the event, Anjali wanted each of them to have different statements that related to fashion, earth and Africa.

“I’ve learned that as a fashion designer you automatically depend on many people to make things happen. This means you need to assemble a team of people to do things well in accordance with their responsibilities. In the designing world, every day is a challenge and a lesson at the same time especially in a market like Dar es Salaam, you need to have a great team that will contribute to the company and not the other way round,” she notes.

To her, fashion designing is more than visually appealing sketches that result in clothes. It involves exploring the other sides of business, for a fully business conduction.

“You have to be savvy and not just thinking that fashion is only about designing because for one to be successful in this arena, one also has to know about the fields of work including money, public relations, management, production and real estate, study them and ask people for advice on further understanding,” details Anjali.

The fashion creative advises aspiring designers to work hard on their visions despite the challenges they face, she says it takes dedication, support, focus and self appreciation to succeed in the fashion industry.

“Designers must understand the essence of time, it passes by very fast. This is why they must be committed to betterment on a daily basis because it makes them focus on their business as it flourishes. They must prepare for their moment, for it’s coming,” Anjali hints. She started her designing journey in 2016, and hit a milestone of starting her own fashion brand, ‘EKANTIK’ while she was studying at South Africa’s Cape Town College of fashion design, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion design in 2018.

As years went by, ‘EKANTIK’, which stands for ‘the one,’ has noticeably grown and Anjali remains one of the people holding the key to unlocking the fashion industry. Her brand is famous for creating work wears, rare yet aesthetical oversized collections for people in the lines of works such as plumbing, electricity and business as it’s led by an approach that these collections are tributes to people in these lines of work.

“My fashion brand does not particularly have specific muses because it is inclusive and for everyone, we are more focused on creating designs for everyone and attract different eyes at the same time, EKANTIK is more focused on making statement designs for both women and men at the work place,” Anjali explains.