Feminine, elegant, simple comfort
Taibo Bacar has won many awards for his work, writes Aphiwe Fredricks
ACCESSORY: Umbrellas made of straw are part of the Afican look.
TAIBO Bacar, the Mozambican-born fashion designer, is considered one of the leading designers in Africa. The son of a seamstress, Taibo grew up around the sounds of sewing machines, fabrics and the design sketches that he drew for some of his mother’s clients so it’s no surprise he progressed from having a career in IT to pursue one as a fashion designer.
The brand has won many African and international awards and was the first African brand to showcase at Milan Fashion Week.
He recently showcased at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Cape Town (MBFWCT), with a collection that was influenced by the ethnic background of Mozambique. What are the pros and cons of being in the fashion industry at the moment?
To be able to live and have an income doing what I love is the best reward. The most difficult is all that we have to give up, social life and to have our minds fully committed on the business. How does this feel to be able to achieve so much in such a short space of time?
It all depends on the point of view. For us it doesn’t feel like a short space of time and we are not even close to where we want to get, on a scale of 1 to 10, I think we are still at 1 in terms of achieving our goals . After so many awards like, what has been your favourite moment so far?
One of my favourite moments was a conference in Rome – Conde Nast International Luxury Conference – where we did an exposition at the entrance hall in 2012, I met the most influential people in the fashion industry, like Valentino and the late Franca Sozzani. What kind of support did you have when you started?
Thankfully I had a lot of moral support from my family, my mother and my siblings, friends. Financially it has always been myself and Tatiana Ismael , my business partner. What would you say is the aesthetics of your label?
Feminine, elegant, simple and comfortable. You are among the Top 10 of Africa’s best designers, how do you feel about this title?
Super humbled and honoured . What was the inspiration for the MBFWCT 2017 collection and what kind of feedback did you get?
They were influenced by our ethnic background; from our traditional customs to our lively dances and ever-shifting cultural movements. The collection was inspired by the strength of the modern woman and passionately driven by the love we feel for our grandmothers, mothers and sisters. Tell us about your choice in the beautiful fabrics that you use?
It is an autumn/winter collection so we used richer fabrics in terms or texture, with thicker fibres. We used a lot of brocades, jacquard, bouclé, thick laces, a little bit of velvet for the details. For the accessories we used straw. Our people here in Mozambique use it to make baskets for the market, brooms, rugs, carpets and other decorative products. So we transferred that to the chokers, the umbrella, the sleepers, also the little bags are made of straw as well. The fashion industry is infamous for being so fast paced. What was your most difficult challenge and how did
Hmm, probably the fact that there isn’t a fashion industry set up in Mozambique was the most challenging thing. When I started Maputo had few shops selling fabrics, not a great variety or quality, no textile industry, no fashion courses, no fashion oriented marketing, photography or model agencies. So basically I had a dream of becoming a designer in a place where it was almost impossible because of the lack of infrastructure, education, network and industry. Nowadays that reality is changing as you can find more and more fashion related businesses and services, but it is still very poor compared to many other countries. Where do you think African fashion is right now and where would you like to see it in the next five years?
I believe it is in a place with great potential, the rest of the world has their eyes on us. I prefer not to have any thoughts regarding that, five years ago I tried to have this thought, and today I surprise myself every day even more. In five years I will be surprised again. Your five key winter wardrobe staples?
A coat, a good pair of stockings, comfortable boots, turtle neck, and a leather jacket.