Thursday, 2 February 2023

I left Kenya to be a Fashion Designer in Australia || African print design || Fashion designer

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bCOF54TYPrs


press africa is bringing you a hot episode the  impact series where we're talking to ordinary   people that are doing something or making  something with a difference in the community   to start off we're interviewing  adelaide based designer linda   monzelli i can't wait for you to watch  this and to meet this amazing woman i would basically describe myself  as an upcoming fashion designer   um and all this is just passion honestly  everything i do just learning seeing   thinking and building and developing myself in  the field of design um i was born in kenya and was   still there what was it like growing up in kenya  well i grew up i was raised in a very good family   my mom was very very strict so yeah um i studied  very well um i studied actually um chemistry   never famous i can understand some chemistry  it involves the techniques of chemistry so um   when i when i wanted to actually when i was  in kenya it was all okay but then i wanted to   challenge myself and like explore the world so one  thing i had told myself was i have to go somewhere   else to study my master's degree all right i  was excited to come here i feel like i forgot   i forgot every problem forgot everything all  ready to explore this new world meet new people   see new people honestly um i came in and then the  first i think after two weeks i started my uni   and for one i i did listen to what the lecturers  were talking about i felt like they were speaking   either too fast i was paying attention but i just  couldn't get it and this chemistry and i have to   say i felt the same way when i first got when i  first got to australia i could hear what people   were saying but i couldn't understand it because  there's a different way in which the people speak   so it's like you have to your ears have to adjust  to the new world yes it's like you have to pay   attention ten times more than you usually do that  was me the first few times just when i finished   uni um so studying kenya i started doing um i  would say like a business like i started teaching   myself how to do hand sewing all right so i  did some pattern designs for basically just   pillows that's all i wanted to do just pillowcases  for bed for sitting area that's all so i did that   but then when the journey of coming to  australia came in my mind i was like wow   where will i get an african fabric or tailoring  things to actually do it i honestly struggle to   make friends like but good thing was the easiest  part to make friends with i came through church   so being introduced to the first church you go  you get to make friends or you are classmates but   unfortunately chemistry is i don't know whether  i should say it's a technical um subject where i   find not all the ladies are there so 90 percent  honestly of the class were the australians and   two or three of us were just like international  students so we had to be friends like we had to to   maintain our friendship and once in a while just  try if we could be friends with the australians so   during that i tried to do a research and i found  public health was the perfect course for me yeah   so i checked out and i found i can actually study  master's in public health in torrance university   that's when i enrolled and it was an absolute um  topic of course that i really wanted to do linda   is into fashion and design and why fashion or why  design where did that where did that start um i   would say when i was in uni back in kenya i used  to like dressing funny thing i used to actually um buy a dress and sleep hungry that's how much  i used to that's how much i used to like wait a minute you buy a dress and sleep  around here oh my gosh that is next   anyway so i did notice that i had a touch of  test and i i liked doing that so when i came   here i remember one day i was just dressed in one  of the a smallest piece actually of african fabric   or african attire and i was in church and then  someone told me linda this really looks good on   you have you thought of doing a business related  to this i was like what do you mean that business   i just bought this back in kenya and i  never actually thought about that idea   anymore like it was just not in my mind those um  gala event that happened i think that was in 2019   and um after not liking that just make me anything  think of something um maybe something i was like   sure give me uh your shot he was a guy because  i'll just like give me a shot and i'll make   something for you i made something for him  pretty easy really and i didn't attend the   gala that time i was student and i needed to walk  because i was like today i'm not going so he went   and he was like people love this this is even  even australians are asking me who who need this   so basically a men's shirt i mentioned here with  uh like um both high and a bow tie neck multi how do i say this a bow tie and a necktie combine  together all right okay so and it was like   permanently on the chart where are you on  instagram by the way um um the monsalee the   monsale so you can see all hair designs there so  then this guy goes to this event he's wearing um   the shirt that you've made and then people fall  in love with it and it sparks an idea yeah and   then what do you do with it so when he came and  told me that i was like this is it this is all   i needed i had already actually bought a sewing  machine like three months ago for my thing i was   just not using it really in business you used  sewing machines before no okay no what happened   actually i bought the sewing machine first um  i went to visit a friend and i saw a sewing   machine in her place it looked like this one is  in australia she was like yes so she told me wait   i can buy one and she just showed me like one  thing to do like just basically how it operates   like it's actually not manual like the one i  used to see in canada it's actually electric   so i saved up and i wanted to buy the cheapest  and simple um sewing machine because it was my   first time and learning i've seen with your work  it's not just uh sewing so the main part of it is   design so where did that design element come from  if you always say that create a spark within you   um i say everything comes with growth um the first  time i started was just basic t-shirts putting a   piece of fabric on a t-shirt oh yeah talking of  t-shirts guys she's the one who dresses me for   those beautiful press african videos the one i  did on axum that jumper hoodie that i'm wearing   she made it and those t-shirts with the beautiful  africa map and then she's the one who makes it   but yeah you started with a t-shirt so i started  with i remember my designs were really really bad   like i'm looking at it and i'm like wow at that  time if you were the best right now growth growth   i remember even at some point i  didn't know how to use pins to   attach a fabric on a t-shirt so i just use glue  and assume these will stick forever little i know   this shape needs to be washed but then with time  i started learning yeah the good thing actually i   think when you when you when you when you have  a heart or passion to do something you'll want   curiosity grace will keep you going so with that  as time went by i started developing and growing   into making goodies and i think i did that for a  whole year so depending on the season what comes   in the season i make it according to the season  just learning slowly by slowly until eventually   during the pandemic covey should i say  thank you to kobi okay but honestly yeah   um during the pandemic i was not um like i would  say my business was not doing really really good   but i took that opportunity to learn new things  so that's when i started making scarf or like   making things from scratch not just customize  a hundred percent so i started teaching myself   i would actually see a design somewhere and  just think maybe this is how it's created and   i try it doesn't look really good i try the  second time and it looks good so most of the   things that i actually do i've noticed it's just  like trial and error but eventually it turns out   good because of constant trying and trying  to perfect or more learning and learning wow   that is amazing and i've noticed that  you know you've been expanding um the   things that you make and then when i came into  this house which we will show you in a minute   you also seem to be in interior designing as  well you know just seeing how you've decorated   your house your space and you know it's like  you take bottles and then you modify them   all simple picture frames it's just beautiful  um how how do you manage to expand your horizons   in such a manner when i dress myself i would  always go out there and people would naughty   so i figured in my house i want to welcome  friends i want them to see my work as well in   the house and get the option some people maybe do  not like too much african prince on them but they   can like it in their house so that's why i have  the option so i i thought this is what i like   i decorate my house first i make one for  myself and have a chance to show the wall   i wanted to realize like my passion what's my  talent what can i do best that's not going to work   so when i started doing sewing and i realized  this is what i like i want to keep doing this   i wanted i kept doing it and i realized this  is my talent i have the potential to to do this   so my main goal actually of doing all this design  is actually to inspire anyone out there who has   an idea it's basically it starts with one idea one  idea you want to put in action that's all it's all   about um realizing what you can do best and do you  have a practice around that so do you have things   that you do every day or do you love reading what  makes you stay in that mental position or what   makes you stay in that mode where you are creating  things and where you're self-driven like that i   would say it's two things um passion and curiosity  when i get curious i wouldn't even go to bed   i have to make sure i i i get it done so  most of the time i can actually think of   a design i could just be relaxing coloring  and then something just kicks on my mind   passion of just wanting to grow to develop myself  and probably or someday someone will see that   someone who has no training or any schooling in  tailoring can actually create their own business   because that's coming from the house it's just  passion honestly you need passion to keep going   and stand up and just be like this is what i love  doing i want to try and go ahead and try this   and has it been easy has that journey been easy  you know i know like let's say you're doing   something that you're passionate about but do you  feel like it's been easy to get here or it's been   challenging um to get your work out there and  get your voice heard um it's i would say there   has been a number of challenges i remember when  i first started i used to just hop forward like   just one one person to like one person  to comment lately that i love your work   unfortunately click it i got some likes but then  when someone was like this is a very common thing   uh why would you want to do something very common  everyone is doing it but that did not stop me   because like i am doing it and i'm not everyone  and i'm not everyone this is linda this is   me doing but then i didn't reply negatively the  person i'm just like here thank you but i'm just   doing this in australia so i was like when i see  an opportunity i want to take that opportunity but   honestly it hasn't been an easy journey remember  when i started doing this design or when the ideas   packed in my mind i was still having master's  degree to do and i was still going to work   so for me to actually be able to manage i  decided um i had to create a list of priorities   what would come first uni have i needed i need to  get good grades so i need to do the assignments   do i have any pending orders do i need to go  to work today so i had to create a list of   opportunities so at some point my work my life  just revolved around uni home um going to work   just those i would say with time it gets easier  and you get to support your friends some friends   do actually come in and support you like genuinely  support you because there's some friends will be   like yeah i'll help you that's okay but then the  people who are just out there ready to discourage   you yeah but no matter what comes your way the  power just wanting to keep going keep doing it   keep pushing keep pressing on and trusting  the process is what keeps me going until today   that's amazing so tell me linda where do  you see yourself in the coming five years so   we're in 2021 now so what do you what do you  see yourself in the coming you know they're   saying 2026 because sometimes we tend to you know  someone said we tend to overestimate what we're   going to achieve in a year and we underestimate  what we can do in five years where do you see   the monsale design business heading i would  love to create job opportunities for people   there are people out there who just love fashion  but they don't wanna they don't wanna try because   going maybe going to work is easier it's easy  money but i wanna create opportunities for people   and for me to do that i think eventually i will  first launch this business officially the manzali   and that would start um creating opportunities  for people but generally um i may not be   um i may not have any any degree any certificate  in tailoring or design but deep down in my heart   and to become one of the best fashion designers  in australia like that is just my dream   i would i'm happy to learn i'm happy to go  through the process of learning and everything   but two main goals is to get job opportunities  for people in this field of design yeah for   anyone who's really interested or passionate about  trying out something in conclusion i would like to   ask you do you have any words that you would like  to tell someone who's looking at you right now   and you know maybe they aspire to do design or  maybe they aspire to start their own business   and they feel like it's not possible because  they use you know certain limitations in the   industry um i would first say if you have an  idea it is until you put it out there that   you will be seen or you'll be recognized or  that's when you will the first step is always put   yourself out there give yourself a chance because  i've noticed there's so many people out there with   opportunities i sit with people and they're  telling me how much they can do with just the   basic things that they put out there do they put  themselves out there not really because they think   oh it's really small but trust me god works in  miraculous ways like things happen you meet people   opportunities come your way it's because you put  yourself out there one person may see you and that   may change your life one thing can just happen and  that's it i would say one idea at a time you may   find someone has 10 ideas of the possibilities  that they can do they can become photographers   they can become models they can come tell us they  can become all these so basically just one idea   at a time other those will open other other things  you can always do it once one has been completely   successful thank you so much that was just amazing  guys please if you have not done so already check   out linda's work on instagram and if you've never  ordered anything you know what are you waiting for   she can even design you and what's your instagram  name again um the monsale on instagram and   linda monzale on facebook great so please make  sure you follow her like her if you haven't done   so already order a t-shirt order a woody you  would definitely love it linda please keep on   doing this amazing work and thank you so much for  being here with us today on press africa thank you


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african instruments

https://howtoplaythedjembedrums.com/i-left-kenya-to-be-a-fashion-designer-in-australia-african-print-design-fashion-designer/

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