Zimbabwe: The local fashion designer – Moline Katiyo-Mayhew will showcase her designs at Austin Fashion Week in the US, which will be observed from April 20, 2024. The visual artist will display her creativity under the “HB & Rontowdar” brand.
This will be considered as her debut on the US runways. The fashion week will be observed as the biggest show in Texas and the fourth biggest in the US.
Moreover, the show will run under the theme “EMERGE” and the collection with the title “The African Sun has risen”.
In a recent interview, Katiyo-Mayhew said that the collection this year will incorporate men’s wear, which will include all garments that are exclusively designed and ethically made by her.
For the designs, Katiyo has collaborated with the talented emerging menswear designer – Ronald Zulu of RonTowdar whom she supported to showcase their work.
Reportedly, the designs focus mainly on sustainable fashion and are the infusion of different fabrics and scraps, which collectively create exclusive, wearable pieces for versatility and comfort.
Katiyo Mayhew has not received any formal training in fashion and expressed that she was inspired by her mother, Rachel, who is a dental nurse by profession and also sewed, knitted, embroidered, and did crotchet works.
The Zimbabwean fashion designer emphasized that her career spans across the different sectors as she is a skilled developmental consultant and also a grant advisor in girl and women empowerment projects.
Mayhew’s career accelerated in 2019, when she won the fashion designer award at the PPC Imaginarium which is an ambitious art and design awards program that officially promotes creative talent in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
She is an inspiration and has encouraged young designers to start at home before beginning at the big stage. “I encourage young designers to start marketing their brands at home and in their communities even though this is a competitive industry known internationally,” marked Katiyo.
Earlier, Katiyo Mayhew has showcased her fashion articles in South Africa in Tswane Fashion Week, at the Harare International Festival of Arts (HIFA) and Zimbabwe Fashion Week.
Just three years ago in 2021, Katiyo launched the first national digital fashion and handcrafts show for women and youth that are entitled as “Our Handcrafts on the Catwalk”, under her non-profit organization, in Chengetedza.
Notably, the project was selected under the Culture Fund’s Creative Actions programme that is supported by the European Union and the Zimbabwe-Germany Society.