Dental hygienist turns to fashion

By Rosalia David

YOUNG and energetic 28-year-old Mwaalwa Nambondi who studied dental hygiene has turned to fashion after being unemployed for a few months.

Nambondi, who admired fashion as young child, started selling clothes when she returned to Namibia from the United States of America in 2019.

Today, the passionate Nambondi owns a boutique in Maerua Mall named ‘Fashion Obsession’ which she opened last year November.

“When I came back from the USA I started selling clothes from a suitcase and later moved to the back of my car in 2019 and towards the end of the year, I opened my shop”.

She said, before finding a stable place to sell her clothes from, she risked her life walking around the city streets trying to make a profit.

“A lot of people know me just because I used to walk and drive around to people trying to sell my stock,” she added.

Nambondi said she stumbled upon the free space at Maerua Mall to rent and decided to move in and sacrifice paying rent to pursue her dream.

Fashion Obsession offers both affordable and quality pieces such as dresses, jeans, tops, men’s T-shirts and many other items for a wide consumer base.

For a beginner, Nambondi said the business is doing well but anticipates it to grow bigger after the pandemic.

“We can’t complain much. We are doing well for a shop that just opened but I am sure if there was no Covid-19 we will be doing far much better because our items are really unique.

People don’t like rocking up at events wearing the same clothes. Here you can get something that only you will have in your closet,” she noted.

Asked on whether she sees herself having a full-time job one day, she said, the love and passion she has for fashion would not allow it.

“I enjoy this so much. I don’t see myself having a full-time job. It’s a passion to do this and it makes me happy. I just want to focus on the business because in future, I want to be competing with big shops such as Edgars,” she added.

Nambondi’s other desire is to be able to sell locally made clothes in her shop to motivate Namibian designers to follow their dreams.

“We have a lot of international stuff and in future, I want to be able to collaborate with local designers to sell their garments and perhaps branch out to other town’s as well,” she said.