Honorable Dr. Laureate Senayit Mario is thirty six. She is model and fashion designer who was born in Wolayita Sodo town of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples (SNNPs) State. She had completed her primary and secondary education in Wolayita Sodo before she went to Hawasa, the capital of the SNNPs State to pursue her college education.
In Hawasa, she joined the pedagogical college and graduated with diploma in English and Amharic language. Soon after graduation, she returned to Wolayita and became an English teacher in a nearby Woreda called Embo of Wolayita Zone for one year. Then she moved to Addis Ababa and joined Addis Ababa University to study philosophy for her first degree. But she won a scholarship in the middle and went to Uganda. There, she studied sociology and earned her first degree. Then after she returned to Ethiopia and has been lecturing sociology in different colleges. Later she got married to an Italian man and moved to Italy, where her modeling and fashion designer career got uplifted. Currently, she is a mother of one. She is one of the most successful and globally recognized Ethiopian fashion designers. She is our guest for today and will be sharing her life time experience.
Herald: Would you tell us how you began your modeling and fashion designer career?
Senayit: When I was studying sociology in Uganda I used to travel to Nairobi Kenya. So, the first time I was casted as a model was in Nairobi by a modeling Agency called Emani. It was Liso Combo, a popular South African Fashion Designer and Singer who saw me walking in a park and picked me up. She approached me and said “For sure you are an Ethiopian!” Following my “Yes! nod, she complemented me for my elegance and advised me to join modeling in her Agency, Emani.
But I said “How come? I have no inkling about modeling”. She promised she would get me a training opportunity in the Agency. I took the training and did my first swimming outfit advertisement. That is how I started modeling. I did not stay longer there as I was due to return home completing my education. At that time the modeling industry in Ethiopia was at its infancy and I couldn’t get the opportunity to fan the embers of my passion.
Herald: Were you nourishing the dream of being a model before you got the opportunity in Nairobi?
Senayit: Never at all. That is because when I was growing up the image attached to modeling here was underwhelming. Being a model was considered as act of promoting anti-cultural dressing style that lays bare one’s body parts. It was not viewed as a profession that could promote culture. Due to that becoming a model was the remotes thing in my mind. I had no interest or plan to be one.
Herald: So, what was your life’s dream at that time?
Senayit: To your surprise I used to dream of becoming a physician. During the time I grew up, most of my age mates and I were wishing becoming a doctor or a pilot. So, my preference was to become a doctor. On the other hand, when I used to see an airplane flying on the sky, I had always been wondering whether one day I could fly in it being a hostess. That was my second dream.
Herald: Tell us about the professional modeling and design career that you pursued after you moved to Italy?
Senayit: When I moved to Italy, I had to move from one office to another searching for job. And most people whom I approached would ask me if I was a model just by looking my chocolate skin, slim body and tall height. So, I told myself why I don’t try it. Even though I had the stage experience from Nairobi, Italy, Millano in particular, was the biggest place of modeling competition in the world. Therefore, emerging with flying colors in the red hot competition was not easy. Even if I was anxious, I just went for it. It proved a hit in terms of success.
The reason that I joined the Fashion designing career was that I had been observing several traditional costumes of different African countries on the stages that I were participating. What proved interesting was that those dresses that I had seen in the fashion shows had Ethiopian origin but with different designs. If you take Luise Vott for instance, it had commonalities with the cotton dresses that we find in Shiro Meda (A place in Addis Ababa well known for traditional clothing market) bought with two or three hundred Birr, taken to Europe, modified with a different simple design and sold for eight hundred dollars. That is because we didn’t have our own brand and market access though we have the material. So others sell our material as if the materials were their own product.
Taking this fact into consideration, in collaboration with foreign partners in the fashion industry, I came up with the initiative to promote our traditional clothes with creative new designs offering our models to participate in different popular fashion shows in Europe. It was meant to promote our products in Europe and also the European materials in Ethiopia. My first design was the Dinguza cloth of Wolayita origin. The photo of some six Europeans wearing that cloth was posted on the internet about four years ago and it has been shared by millions around the world.
Herald: Did you take training on design before?
Senayit: No. I have had only seamstress training and some short courses of designing at school. I honed my designing skills through several practices of sketching. Everyone has untapped natural gift deep inside and if one takes any opportunity to unleash his/her talent nothing is impossible. The other thing is that my mother used to teach in a sewing school. We had a sewing machine at home. Therefore, I was practicing cutting and stitching clothes at home. When I got involved in the industry, I learnt that designs adding value to peoples’ beauty. That gave me more inspiration and courage.
Herald: What did the acceptance from the audience look like following your first fashion design show?
Senayit: It was incredible. I remember it was on valentine day. Even if marking a valentine day is a culture foreign to us, it is not unusual to see red flowers and clothes in several shops and places around Addis on that day. But most clothes are not tailed to our own fads. So, I came up with the idea that I can turn our traditional cotton clothes in to red and bring them to a stage with modern designs. Thus, my show took place in Rome Italy with different models sashaying on the stage putting on my new designs of the Ethiopian Habesha Kemis. You know the color of the Wolayita Dinguzan has commonality with the Germany flag and when the Italian model came out to the stage dressing it, the media published stories saying ‘Italian model came on stage dressing Germany’s flag’. Despite the similarity with the flag, the dress has originated from a small part of Ethiopia called Wolayita and the Italian models dressing Dinguzan on that stage promoted the country all over Europe.
Meanwhile, what made the cloth unique is not because it was displayed by the Italian models. The Dinguzan is usually made from very tick wool and has never been sewed by Menen (a thin type of wool that most Habesha Kemises are made of). So I have to inject my creativity and make the wool thinner by boiling it and going through other processes.
Currently not only the Dinguzan but also more other works of my fashion designs are becoming popular on the external world and are playing significant role in promoting Ethiopia. As a result, the industry is growing rapidly as several foreign direct investors are joining the textile sector in the country.
Herald: In how many countries have you been staging your fashion shows so far?
Senayit: About thirty three countries from Europe to New York US. My first objective is promoting Ethiopian cultures through all my fashion journeys with creative designs that are suitable for modern societies.
Herald: What is the life philosophy of Honorable Laureate Senayit Mario?
Senayit: My life philosophy is anything is possible if one perseveres. If you plan and observe rules, it would probably take time but can be achieved with firm commitment and dedication.
Despite the obstacles I have to go through, I always chose to strictly go for my goals. I never give up until I succeed in what I aspire to attain. That is the blessing I have got from God.
Herald: What inspires you to do what you are doing?
Senayit: I love admiring nature, traveling from place to place and learning different cultures. I would go to several places searching for typical cultures and dressing styles. For instance, I had been with the Hamer society of Ethiopia. Then I performed on the African Diplomats Festival that took place in Rome, wearing their traditional cloth which is made of leather, with their colorful makeup, and introduced their culture for the world. The audience was amazed. So every natural gift between societies everywhere inspires me.
Herald: You have recently launched a fashion campaign that promotes culture in Ethiopia. How is the progress and the acceptance?
Senayit: The acceptance is so far so good. There are lots of ups and downs when one presents one’s idea at a project level. When one looks for sponsors many doors could be closed because most of the people whom one approaches do not have enough awareness about fashions. Because they consider fashion as a luxury; not as a tool that promotes culture. One may find sponsors if one engage in the music industry more than the fashion sector. But every dressing, eating, musical, etc tradition is a culture. The products that we buy, we always check up on where they are made from. The same is true to the clothes we buy. Fashion has its own crucial role in giving one the clue about the clothing or representation that one is interested in.
I launched this campaign with the objective to enable youths understand their own cultures .I wanted to show them the presence of the best product from their own origin. It is wise to teach them their own culture as well as others’. In this case, musicians, authors, dancers, etc. can introduce culture from their own professional perspectives. I am doing that through the fashion industry. This is also an investment to the country and a contribution to its developmental progress.
Herald: It is learnt that women have several traditional obstacles to be part of not only the fashion industry but also other self-developing careers. What would be your message of inspiration for them?
Senayit: Well, women do not have a role any less than men in this world and I do not want to go to biblical arguments and natural effects. But I say if women can work hard, there is no place that they cannot reach. They can compete equally with men. We women are fit in every position but what pulls them back is the lower credit that women give for themselves despite the traditional influences. If a woman is confident enough about her own self, I know she can achieve anything she wants to!
The Ethiopian Herald Sunday February 2/2020
BY HENOK TIBEBU
