The Sunday News
Sithatshisiwe Gwaza, Sunday News Reporter
A BULAWAYO rising fashion stylist Divine Sibanda has bagged a contract with beauty queens from the country’s two universities.
Sibanda is now the official provider of dresses to Miss Lupane State University (LSU) and Miss National University of Science and Technology (Nust), the first initiative meant to boost modelling in tertiary institutions.
Sibanda started designing and making garments in January 2018. He was pushed into this industry by his family and community who fancied his creativity and style in dressing. He then officially embarked on his fashion and styling career. He took a step in his journey by using social media avenues such as Instagram and Facebook, advertising his styling capabilities.
“But when I started it looked all doom and gloom as all I had was Instagram likes and comments which did not yield any productivity except for “mere popularity”, but things took a turn in this year when I signed my first contract with top models from Lupane State University and National University of Science and Technology,” he said.
Sibanda said the deal with universities was set to open more opportunities for him. He was thrilled that his work was regarded as the best after Miss LSU won the best dressed award in a modeling event held last Saturday in Bulawayo, while Miss Nust Onesimo Nkomo took the crown of Face of Truth in Divine’s white peice. Agnes Mwale was adjudged the top model and the best photogenic.
The final break of the rookie stylist was his win of the open challenge of runway king, which consisted of Truth models and the audience, where he came out as the male outstanding top model. Sibanda added that he was looking forward to spread his wings in the industry, and was working on scoring a mentorship contract with the influential, Mr Zimbabwe, brand ambassador Ben Chest.
The director of Truth Models Academy Pardon Khaya, who organised last Saturday’s modeling contest, said he was happy with the turn out.
The event also included a get together of models and their families.
“It was unfortunate that we had to turn back other people as a means to uphold the Covid-19 regulations which limit the number of people in public gathering. But we had thousands of people following our event on social media platform like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook page.
