What started as the love for making dolls and their small clothes for fun has turned into a career for Maun’s youthful fashion designer, Gomotsegang Dipuo of the SER CONSOLADO brand.
“SER CONSOLADO is Portuguese which is a translation of my Setswana name Gomotsegang,” she explained. The designer stable was self-funded at establishment.
Dipuo developed interest in fashion designing at a young age, and never looked back as she then opted to go for it as a career. The talented fashion designer also got inspiration from renowned South African fashion design guru, David Tlale to dream bigger.
Dipuo told The Weekender that in pursuit of her passion she chose to study Home Economics at Tsodilo Junior School and went on to study fashion and fabrics at Maun Senior School. She further pursued an Associate Degree in fashion apparel design at Limkokwing university of creative technology in 2018.
While at university, Dipuo’s dedication to build a career in the fashion industry grew as she began to showcase at various fashion shows across the country, among them the Fashion Without Borders 2016 where she received an Ineeleng Kavindama fashion award as an upcoming designer.
“I also took part in the Mascom derby fashion show 2017, Masa Square Hotel fashion show 2017, President’s Day arts competition fashion show 2018, Miss Botswana fashion show 2021 and Mascom derby fashion show 2022,” she highlighted her achievements.
Dipuo said she then relocated to Maun with her business after graduation where has been inundated with the high demand for her products and services.
The brand was officially launched in 2017 at the inaugural Masa Square Hotel fashion mentorship programme where Dipuo participated as a mentee and Limkokwing university representative.
The Maun based fashion designer specializes in women apparel among them suits, bridal couture, casual wear, pageant gown. The stable has a wide range of target market for ladies’ wear as she can design for different occasions such as designing outfits for weddings, wedding gowns, bridal showers dresses, parties and pageant dresses. She is also working on improving her skills in men’s wear with an aim to expand her business.
Dipuo noted that she intends to expand internationally, and also take her work to international runways as one of Africa’s best fashion designers. When responding on what she offers that is different from other local fashion designers, Dipuo highlighted that when designing she chooses colourful fabrics that are fun to work with and gives a modern feeling unlike using the usual German prints.
Just like any other business, the re-owned fashion designer has noted that she experiences challenges as well, highlighting that it is currently difficult for her to access fabrics in Maun hence she is forced to constantly travel to Gaborone to source them.
“I urge my fellow entrepreneurs and aspiring ones to take advantage of the low supply of fabric in Maun and start a business to supply such material in order to meet the demand,” Dipuo advised.
She further noted that another challenge that she faces is customers expecting the best quality designs yet they are unwilling to pay and unwilling to buy enough material that will satisfy their kind of design.
The youthful fashion designer has also urged would be entrepreneurs not to wait on government funding, but rather work small time jobs and save to start small. She further encouraged people to start a business of something they love and know better because that way they will be patient enough with the business.
