By TROY MUKUPA
“My favorite thing about being a fashion designer is seeing a piece of clothing coming to life. From just an idea, illustration, cutting and putting together the pieces to form a beautiful dress,” said, Mundia Siisi, third born in a family of 5, self taught fashion designer, runway model, an accountant by professional, CEO and creative proprietor for one of the most anticipated flirty self-titled fashion brand called “Mun’s Design”. Mundia, brings to the fashion tables her diversity of fashion standout styles, ideas and creative art that has proven to take a centre stage at some of Zambia’s fashion shows.
“Growing up fashion was not something I ever thought I would be interested in worse off be a fashion designer myself. My journey in fashion started first on a personal level. I would make clothes for myself from scratch and sometimes I would get already made from salaula and then make them into what I would like and I would get compliments .
One day I visited a friend who asked me to make for her a skirt like one I had made for myself. She was welling to pay. At first I was really skeptical and I didn’t know whether to do it or not. She insisted, and that request birthed my interest in fashion and designing. I ended up making also for her 3 sisters and 2 of her friends. From there, orders started coming in, and thats how I made it official”
She said the source of inspiration to fully venture into the fashion industry came from the fulfilment she got when she first showcased at the Ndola, Lusaka fashion and at the Tiyende Pamodzi fashion shows. She said the achievements boosted her confidence and encouraged her to pursue her dream to be a designer. “That to me was the inspiration I needed to affirm that I was getting into the right industry and that I had the potential to grow in it. It affirmed that my work was original and trendy enough to participate at such renowned fashion platforms. Also just been on the sewing machine makes me feel so close to my late daddy. He was a tailor at some point when I was still young”
As Mundia continued establishing herself as a fashion designer, the industry opened up opportunities for runway modeling, which she grabbed without hesitation. She said joining modeling helped boost her confidence and public speaking skills. Her biggest modeling accomplishment come when she walked at the 2016 Zambia Fashion week. She was quick to say balancing time between her accountancy job and her fashion business was a challenge. “Yes, having to balance a full time job and running a business means late nights and early mornings. Sometimes I would have clients that would want to come in for measurements or just to see my work during the week when I am at my accounting job, and that’s almost impossible on my part and you will find I end up losing that client. And the other challenge is finding a trusted tailor, you find someone and as soon as you leave, they start to do their own personal things, so client work ends up suffering”
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