{"id":6856,"date":"2018-11-17T07:35:30","date_gmt":"2018-11-17T07:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/new_thereporter\/2018\/11\/17\/man-behind-negesti\/"},"modified":"2018-11-17T07:35:30","modified_gmt":"2018-11-17T07:35:30","slug":"man-behind-negesti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/6856\/","title":{"rendered":"The man behind Negesti:"},"content":{"rendered":"

An up and coming Ethiopian brand<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Aron Senay is looking to dominate. He sells a lifestyle, not just handbags. The carefully designed handbags and accessories, largely targeted at female customers, craft a personality. The visual advertising of his brand Negesti<\/em> indicates as much. Fierce looking women and handsome men are ready to conquer and flaunt, their bags serve as weapons of destruction, and of desire.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Named after his grandmother, Negesti<\/em> is a relatively new brand in the market. Created in 2017 and showcased in the Creative Futures and FA254 fashion design contest, Negesti<\/em> is steadily gaining traction, largely driven by Aron\u2019s unflinching dedication to fashion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI like fashion. My grandmother Negesti<\/em> was from Nazareth and she always wore white. Somebody notices who you are because of how you dress. It shapes a personal narrative,\u201d he believes.   <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

His brain is an encyclopedia of fashion. An afternoon spent with Aron can be quite educational to one unversed in fashion. Designers\u2019 names, aesthetics, African, European, American, ideals fashion houses are built on, haut couture \u2026 he has consumed it all. Negesti<\/em> is a fairly new venture for him, having worked in event management and design for the past few years. \u201cI\u2019ve been sketching since I was a baby. My childhood dream was to take over 2 houses. I wanted to design for Chanel. But I\u2019m only 75 days old.\u201d He hopes to create an internationally recognized brand.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTom Ford never sowed a day in his life,\u201d says Aron, mentioning the American fashion designer and previous creative director at luxury fashion houses like Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent. Technical skills are no longer as necessary if a designer has the artistic vision in mind and the tools to express it to the craftspeople. But he has a workshop where he handcrafts each item he sells. He also designs clothes on special order.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have to go backward when we have come so far. We shouldn\u2019t have to keep relying on government or foreign investment to support creative industries. A simple idea on a piece of paper can create millions of jobs. But, it doesn\u2019t create a handful now.\u201d  <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As with several other creative sectors in Ethiopia, fashion is uniquely open to any passionate individuals willing to invest their time and money. Western brands like H&M<\/em> have chosen Ethiopia for its cheap labor. While fast fashion has engulfed the world with cheap material to be replaced every season (thereby contributing to a global pollution crisis), there is growing room for local products made by local designers. Mafi, Yefikir, Yohannis Sisters and a few other brands create \u2018high-end\u2019 items for a largely wealthy clientele.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere should be a clear demarcation between designers and manufacturers,\u201d he adds. He is referring to designers that create authentic pieces in contrast to \u2018ones that Google image search and make a hundred replicas of one piece\u2019. Aron specially alters a piece to match his client\u2019s personality, each handbag an echo or an amplifier to an inner identity. Carrying a Negesti<\/em> handbag is a statement; not an item a woman is saddled with because pockets aren\u2019t enough.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInternational fashion is new all the time. Fashion can\u2019t be a luxury in Africa. We can\u2019t run it that way. Visually and brand-wise, it needs so much work. People want to tackle it as a business. They didn\u2019t get into it because they love fashion. If you don\u2019t love fashion don\u2019t work in it. If you want to help designers, set up an investment firm.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Although a new designer in the city, he knows everyone. Of course, the local fashion community is rather small. \u201cThey all know me because I\u2019m loud. They would have crushed me if I wasn\u2019t talented. We need to work together to understand each other\u2019s strengths and weaknesses. We need a cycle of learning and teaching from younger and older designers.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

His description makes Ethiopian fashion seem cutthroat. And Aron is competitive. Each Negesti<\/em> item is built to his own standard of excellence. \u201cYou should never take yourself seriously but take your work seriously. We should be revising all our forgotten standards. Perfection did not come from the west. Same knowhow was applied to build Axum or Lalibela. I don\u2019t let the French tell me I have standards. I don\u2019t need anyone to tell me I have standards,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Aron laments the lack of creativity in the local fashion scene. \u201cWe see the same cuts, ponchos every time. 80 percent of designers just recreate the 1980s. It all comes down to what you\u2019re making–it\u2019s not interesting enough. You need to be challenged.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He contends that Ethiopian designers have not yet mined Ethiopia for fashion inspirations. \u201cWe have limited Ethiopian culture to tibeb<\/em>. We have condensed 3000 years of history and hundreds of cultures to tibeb<\/em>. \u2018Ethiopian\u2019 isn\u2019t defined. \u201cHe mentions Japanese Designer Fei Kawakubo\u2019s house Comme des Gar\u00e7ons and the continued influence Japanese design principles have had on high-end fashion, seamlessly blending the east and the west.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But he also gives credit where credit\u2019s due. He appreciates Hub of Africa, fashion incubators in Addis and talented designers with great vision including Osman Mohammed and designers like Mafi who he says paved the way for emerging artists.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course fashion in Ethiopia is very different from the west or even the rest of Africa and Aron is aware of that. \u201cThe fashion scene is negligible. Shiro<\/em> meda<\/em> and merkato dominate the market. It needs to be more accessible. People shouldn\u2019t have to pay 300 birr to attend fashion events. I don\u2019t like brands that call themselves luxury brands. Let the thing speak for itself. It\u2019s good to hear from people and have a conversation.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He also adds that Ethiopian society, more specifically designers, don\u2019t respect women enough. \u201cFashion in Ethiopia is not feminist enough. That\u2019s one of the problems.\u201d And what does he want Negesti<\/em> to be? \u201cI want an army of tiny Negestis<\/em> dominating. I want to see them defending themselves on the street. Doing whatever they want. It\u2019s not about disrespecting Ethiopian culture. It\u2019s about working with in the culture.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aron Senay is looking to dominate. He sells a lifestyle, not just handbags. The carefully designed handbags and accessories, largely targeted at female customers, craft a personality. The visual advertising of his brand Negesti indicates as much. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":2154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1939,1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lifestyle","8":"category-uncategorized"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thereporterethiopia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}