Last week, I attended and assisted during the program of my friend Fadieye called ELITE Senegal 2018. ELITE is an acronym and stands for Entrepreneurship, Leadership and IT Exchange. During one week, we had over 40 girls that study sewing at CAIF and gave them workshops and trainings in entrepreneurship and leadership. I told you in the last post: Twisted Talent designer, that that was it for ELITE Senegal 2018. I’m not sorry, but I still have some things to share with you: THE STUDENTS! I mean, there was an ELITE Fashion competition involved and I really want to share with you some of the designs. Even though it is not an exclusive post about Twisted Talent, we will definitely get yet another shot of talent!
ELITE Fashion competition
During ELITE Senegal 2018, the students got courses in Entrepreneurship, Leadership and IT. However, to make the event more suited for the students that were participating, there was also the ELITE Fashion competition. The competition was simple, at the beginning of the week, the 42 students were divided in pairs. Each pair was appointed a clothing category: women, men, children or hijab. Then, the rest of the week, the students would work on their clothing with their partner. On Friday, all the groups had to present their clothing with a model. Before we continue, I want to point out that ALL the students did an amazing job during the ELITE Fashion competition. They all came through with their clothing, and incorporated what they had learned during the week and presented it in front of the judges.
women’s wear
The first category of the ELITE Fashion competition I present is: women’s wear. Of course, the ELITE Fashion competition would not be complete nor would it exist without women. Therefore, this category was crucial to the competition. The students came up with some great designs. The two designs I loved best were these two. Both groups incorporated plastic cups in their designs. The one on the left for example, used plastic/paper cups for the white parts of the dress. Even the earrings are the bottom of the cups. Other than that, it looks very classy and is perfect for a night out. The one on the right, has also used parts of cups in their design. The earrings and necklace are also made from cups. Also, the bottom part is actually come off and it will reveal or become a shorter dress. Which is also nice for a night out.
men’s wear
The next category is men’s wear. Since Modou was the only boy among the students, he got to be everyone’s male model. Haha, and as you can see on the picture, he did not mind that at all. The outfit he was wearing was actually so cool! He was wearing trousers that are known in Senegal as tumble or thiayer. It is related to the fact that the pants are wide at the butt and crotch, instead of being tight. His outfit also included a shirt and a cap! Look at how complete and perfect it looks on him!
children’s category
The next category was dedicated to children. I have to tell you that this category was quite tricky, as not all students were able to get some kids. Instead, they asked their smallest classmates to model for them (the twins) and how funny: the twins asked their cute cousin to model for them. This showed that the students used their creativity to make it happen. The twins made a cute ensemble for their cousin and of course, the whole family had to pose when they won in their category!
hijab category
The last category of the ELITE Fashion competition was hijab. In Senegal, most of the people are Muslim, meaning that a part of the women are hijabis. Therefore this category was crucial to the competition. I really loved these outfits. The orange one, on the left was so elegant and the colors were well-used. The leggings beneath the dress were orange and the actual headscarf is blue: perfect match with the fabric. The green outfit, on the right was also super cool! It is a really long dress, that comes with a hoodie. Yes, the black part on top is a hoodie, she was wearing a white headscarf and put on the hoodie.
Of course, there are many more designs and you can check them and more in my photo gallery. Unfortunately, this was really it for ELITE Senegal 2018, it was a great event! I feel deeply sorry for those who said that they would come, but did not come. If you see yourself on one of my pictures and you’d want me to send it to you personally, send me an email at photo@senegalesetwisted.com. Don’t forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel and follow me on IG: @senegalesetwisted and @sntwistedphoto for photography and video’s. Check out my Facebook page @SenegaleseTwisted. See you in my next post :).