Sitwala taking men’s fashion by storm

By Rosalia David

NAMIBIAN entrepreneur and designer Compton Sitwala is taking the fashion industry by storm with his newly opened shop specialising in customised unique African pieces.
Sitwala Men Fashions Boutique is situated in Wecke Street in Windhoek close to Wernhil Park.
In an interview with Confidente this week, Sitwala said the shop was opened three months ago for the middle income group as their fabrics are strictly imported from outside the country.
“We don’t use local fabric. It is a standard we have put for ourselves to always deliver the highest quality of products and our pieces are custom made,” he said.

Although the shop receives a few people on a daily basis popping in, he said African attire still needs to gain popularity in Namibia as compared to other African countries.
“The challenge is, Namibians are not really into the African wear but we want to change things and influence them to wear the African attires on a day-to-day but we are still testing the market and we plan on incorporating jeans and T-shirts in future but with an African touch in future as well, just for balance,” he further explained.
Sitwala said, although Namibians are only keen at dressing up in African attire for special occasions, he believes that in the future, things will change.
“We cater for the middle class because our fabrics are very expensive but in future we will definitely also consider the lower income group,” he said.

Sitwala further mentioned that he has collaborated with international designers but will consider working with local counterparts in the next few years.
“We have a lot of talented designers but for now we only work with the international ones.

We have 300 fabrics at the shop that people can choose from when they come in; 100 percent wool, cotton and linen,” he said.
“We also plan on catering for boys (clothing) so that they can match with their fathers,” he added.