Expect more of my designs in the BBA house – Alfonso

Days after making a fashion statement on the Big Brother Africa stage with an eyebrow raising creation, the trend is set to continue for countless times as one of Malawi’s representative Fatima Nkata will be wearing more of Lilly Alfonso designs.

During the grand opening, Nkata wore a mullet dress (short at the front, long at the back) with a funky and trendy standing collar which attracted positive comments on social sites as well the BBA website.

Nkata’s entry outfit was done by arguably Malawi’s celebrated fashion designer Alfonso, who excitingly says, “more good attires are yet to come from Fatima”.

“I made about 20 outfits for Fatima. Of course some of the outfits like the dress she wore on the opening day is from my last year’s designs. That dress took me 4 hours to complete and what inspired me was to come up with a traditional dress that can make one look like a queen/princess.

“To make it more interesting, I had to mix the cloth, made of cotton fabric with zingwezambuzi but in a comfortable manner,” explained Alfonso in an interview.

She said there are lots of clothes for Fatima that people should be on the lookout for.

“I did a number of cotton dresses for her, made from cotton fabrics by Mapeto, tie-and-dye, with a few others mixed with imported material just to add colour to her wardrobe. I also did for her some jump suits. In fact, there is a special dress I specifically designed for the grand entry. I don’t know what happened for her to change her mind and settle for the mullet dress in which of course she looked stunning.

“I made her a winter collection comprising caftan cover, jackets, poncho, pants plus several unstitched outfits which I taught her how to pin herself up. It was my sponsorship for her because apart from representing herself in pursuit for the top prize of $300 000, she is doing it for Malawi. And I, therefore, thought partly sponsoring her wardrobe is not a bad idea,” said Alfonso who of course is friends with Nkata. The fashion designer, who leaves early June for Africa Fashion Week Barcelona in Spain, said her motivation was to make Fatima beautifully represent Malawi.

“Appearance talks a lot about somebody. I, therefore, made it a point to make sure she looks good. Through her dressing, you never know she might put Malawi on the map. I had made some clothes for a male representative of the country who I had been looking for, to no avail.

“It’s not about me benefiting, but people from the same country working together with the aim of putting our country on the international map in a positive light. In the same vein, making that Malawian fashion statement on the continental series is very important to me and I am sure I will be able to get feedback through comments that people make on the TV as well as the website. That for me alone, spurs me and brings with it fulfilment,” she said.