00:00Street Style is brought to you by Garnier.
00:09In 2024, he became the first Caribbean designer to feature at one of Africa's leading fashion showcases.
00:17And in December, Kirby Young Designs returns to the Swahili Fashion Week runway.
00:22But before he jets off, let's catch up with the man behind the designs.
00:27Mr. Young, first of all, congratulations.
00:30Thank you very much.
00:30So, Swahili Fashion Week, tell us, how did this opportunity even come by for you?
00:36Well, first off, it came from God.
00:38I always say that.
00:39I received a call from a young lady, Natifa Romero.
00:43She was like, Kirby, I saw this ad for designers to apply for Swahili Fashion Week.
00:48Are you interested?
00:50And I'm like, Swahili?
00:51First off, I thought Swahili was a country, not a language.
00:55And I was like, yes.
00:57So, we researched and realized that, you know, this is a possibility.
01:00This is going to extend my brand, put me in front of an international audience, and then
01:05God made it happen.
01:06And I entered.
01:08I was accepted.
01:09And I went to Swahili Fashion Week.
01:11So, at Swahili Fashion Week, they are, most of the designers are from Tanzania, and then
01:18there are about 15 other countries that the other designers come from.
01:21I can't remember them all, but some come from Paris, some from Italy, from the U.S.
01:27I was the only one from the Caribbean, well, for the past two years.
01:31Hopefully, I'm joined by other designers this year.
01:34So, what does Swahili Fashion Week represent?
01:38What is it all about?
01:39So, Swahili Fashion Week is a fashion week that is put on by 361 Degrees, is the name of
01:46the company.
01:47That extra degree to say that they go all the way around for you.
01:51And it is a platform to basically promote and expose designers from Tanzania, as well
01:59as designers from the diaspora.
02:01So, it's, like I said, it's a major networking event for designers, and it basically puts
02:07you there on the international market.
02:09There are buyers, there are investors that attend the show.
02:12So, it's like you, as a designer, taking your portfolio and applying for a job.
02:17I would say that they do have the market.
02:21They have the infrastructure to mass produce at a reasonable cost.
02:28I mean, I don't have to go to China.
02:29I mean, I could get things done right there.
02:31And also, they, I was able to connect with persons who actually do fabrics and produce
02:39the fabrics so I could get my own prints and stuff like that done.
02:42And, yeah, they have the infrastructure.
02:45They have the industry and everything that I need to take KYD International.
02:50Now, we know of the New York Fashion Week.
02:52We know of the Paris Fashion Week.
02:54We know all of these other fashion weeks.
02:56Where does Swahili Fashion Week fall in the lineup, would you say?
03:00Now, Swahili Fashion Week is one of the, if not the largest, fashion week that you would
03:06have in East Africa.
03:07So, everyone wants to go and wants to be a part of Swahili Fashion Week.
03:12They have international designers that will come from various countries.
03:16When you look at the runway, you see everything from evening wear, resort wear, street wear.
03:21Everything is there at Swahili Fashion Week.
03:24I'm happy you mentioned that because when people hear about African fashions, I think
03:29a lot of people still think, okay, African print, African print.
03:32What, what would you say African fashion represents now even globally?
03:39If I am to be completely honest, a lot of the designs that you see at these international
03:46fashion shows that are not necessarily in Africa, the patterns, the motif, they come
03:51from the African culture.
03:53So, now persons are realizing that, hey, this is where these things originated from.
03:58So, they are now coming back to Africa to get the authenticity of the designs, of the
04:03motifs.
04:04So, being a designer from the Caribbean, going to Swahili Fashion Week, the first time I got
04:11there, honestly, I was nervous.
04:13Are they going to accept my designs?
04:15Is it going to, can they relate to it?
04:18Then when I got there, I realized that a lot of the things that I thought that I learned
04:22here from the Caribbean originated from Africa.
04:26A lot of the motifs and the designs, the mumu dress that the rich aunties wear, balloon
04:32skirts, puffed sleeves, all these things originated from Africa and they also have traditional
04:38meanings.
04:39So, I just felt like this had to happen.
04:42This was like a aha moment for me.
04:45All right, well, Mr. Young, thank you so much and once again, congratulations.
04:49All the best on your future endeavors.
04:53And I think a key takeaway from this discussion was really to all of the creatives, don't limit
04:58yourself.
04:59There's an entire world out there for you to explore.
05:02There are opportunities and they are endless.
05:05I am Vanessa Cutting and this was Street Style.
05:07I'll see you all again next week, Thursday.
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