Sustainable Fashion Manufactured in the remote Zambezi Region of Namibia
The Sijwa Project has a broad vision of empowering the local community by creating jobs, preserving traditional knowledge, teaching skills and conserving the surrounding environment through a variety of recycling and innovative activities.
The sewing workshop was never part of the original plan for The Sijwa Project. Covid-19 brought about the vision to include a sewing workshop. After various discussions and donations, it came to be.
Initially, the ladies were taught basic sewing skills and started by manufacturing shopping bags. This grew and today we can present to you a range of clothing, by different designers, Namibian and South African, made with love at The Sijwa Project.
Chanique Rabe, Miss Supranational 2021, designed The Sijwa Dress exclusively for The Sijwa Project in April 2021. The Sijwa Dress is a Red, easy-to-wear, linen-blend dungaree style dress. She taught the senior seamsters step-by-step how to make the dress and gave in-depth training on dressmaking.
Once completed, the ladies modeled the finished garment with absolute pride. The Sijwa seamsters then made their own dresses to wear as uniform in a bright happy yellow, using the design of The Sijwa Dress.
THE SIJWA PROJECT NOW DOES EMBROIDERY
When we started the Sewing Workshop at The Sijwa Project, embroidery was not a skill that crossed our minds.
Isabel de Villiers with a passion to share her skills and empower these women further, decided she would teach them embroidery to add to their repertoire.
The ladies were taught the different colour combinations and then taken through basic embroidery stitches.
Isabel skillfully coaxed each lady to tap into their inner artist and lovingly harness endless possibilities and creative styles.
Embroidering their own butterfly using the stitches they learnt and inspired by the colours of nature around them, they composed a little song about the butterfly which brought tears to Isabel’s eyes.
They then layered threads and colours on top of each other to create three dimensional art work.
Their hand embroidered butterflies are showcased on their Kimono Jackets making each one unique. One can see the girl’s personalities pop through each stitch length and colour combinations.
Each being one of a kind and unique.
"Designing something of value and with meaning is important in today's world filled with stuff. We should all get dressed with intention.
I grabbed the opportunity to conceptualize and design the ‘Dusty Men's Tunic’ for African Monarch Lodges. The Tunic is a combination of the project's success, local empowerment and integrity of design inspired by this piece of paradise in the Zambezi Region of Namibia.
The pattern and first sample was developed at The Sijwa Project, quite unexpectedly. We first drafted the pattern and made a rough first sample on the machines. Then we fitted the sample on various staff and team members and adjusted the fit according to their feedback.
The result, a timeless Tunic Top you will love wearing for years to come. These tunics are made from Linen fabric and have a simplistic and modern feel to them. They are made with love at the hands of the talented woman of The Sewing Workshop at The Sijwa project." Isabel de Villiers, owner and fashion designer of Isabel de Villiers Clothing.
All these exquisite dresses and our tunic is made with love at The Sijwa Project and are available at the curio shop of Nambwa Tented Lodge.
THE SIJWA PROJECT AT SA FASHION WEEK!
We present to you the garments designed and created by Isabel de Villiers, embroidered with love by the Sijwa seamsters, and launched on the runway of SA Fashion Week hosted at the Mall of Africa in Johannesburg on April 30th, 2022!
"Collaborating with The Sijwa Project gave the decade celebration collection a deeper meaning of teamwork and shared passion. Seeing the end results of the hand embroidery pieces on the runway gave me goosebumps and tears. I am so proud of all the hard work and talent they put into each piece - they are collector's items, true artworks", Isabel de Villiers, fashion designer and owner of Isabel de Villiers Clothing.
Indeed a proud moment for The Sijwa Project and African Monarch Lodges. Dusty and Tinolla attended the event and their hearts filled with absolute pride and gratitude. Gratitude to Isabel de Villiers and Nikita Rix-Venter for their unwavering support and our beautiful collaboration.
African Monarch Lodges, P.O. Box 5072, Windhoek, Namibia.
