Biology teacher finds love in textile and fabrics design
A young teacher’s ambition to become a fashion designer has become a reality, thanks to the knowledge she acquired in her fashion and fabrics class at Selolwe Hill CJSS in 2013.
Armed with a Bachelor of Education Science (Biology) degree, which she earned last year, 23-year-old Tapiwa Ringa was destined for the classroom. However, lack of employment opportunities pushed Ringa to explore her talent and fall back on it as a stopgap measure while she was job-hunting.
It turns out her damsel in distress moment was a blessing in disguise as she now has no desire to be a schoolteacher.
“My former Home Economics teacher picked me together with other students to go and represent the school at the regional practical subjects fair where we obtained position two after impressing the judges with a presentation selling our beautiful flared German print skirt. That made me realise that indeed I had the capability and my love for fashion developed right at that moment. In 2021, I decided to buy myself a sewing machine and start designing clothes for sale as a side hustle,” said Ringa, whose Facebook page, Ringa Designs currently boasts 4, 597 followers.
Her signature style items are sexy, body-hugging dresses, trouser sets and skirts (two-piece sets) which she makes from the back room of her mother’s house at Monarch area 9 in Francistown.
“I use mostly stretchy fabrics including scuba, moonlight, stretch satin, stretch Dutch, Tertrex and German print fabrics for my designs which I buy from fabrics and textile shops,” she says.
Ringa primarily creates dresses for special occasions like weddings, parties, and graduations. She also gets busy during wedding seasons, which is mostly December.
The hardworking young designer is currently considering diversifying her product offering to include designer clothing for men as the demand arises.
“As a young designer I face challenges with tight deadlines and dealing with difficult customers as well as the idea of trying to balance between a customer’s need and my own personal design preferences.
However, this is only the beginning for Ringa, who says her dream is to become a renowned designer of choice in the country.
