26 Aug 2018

Managing Director of Liberty Life Botswana has applauded Masa Square Hotel for incorporating the mentorship programme into the fashion show.

Giving a keynote address at the Masa Square Hotel (MSH) Fashion Show and Mentorship Programme Talk Shop, Lulu Rasebotsa said the mentorship programme, which is growth in respective areas, translates into growth for the country and strength in the cross-industry relationships that exist in the ecosystem.

“I am from an insurance background and would wonder how fashion and insurance can be related or exist in the same ecosystem,” she said.

She said like any other industry, each era in the fashion industry has brought with it something new. Rasebotsa said as times turn, the digital age had brought a new meaning to fashion.

She said cellphone technology had made it easier for trends to reach every corner of the world and it had also given fashion designers and fashion houses the opportunity to develop revenue from online sales in addition to in-store sales.

“As digital channels expand, so do the opportunities for designers,” she said.

On how insurance can tie into fashion, Rasebotsa said there were points of intersection, as fashion speaks to design houses, designers, textile manufacturers and retailers among many other elements.

She said intellectual property was an important aspect of any creative or content generator, hence the need for fashion designers to protect themselves against imitations and infringements.

“Fashion and insurance may not seem like a match made in heaven, but insurance can be tied to anything you deem of value.

I believe eyes and limbs are of paramount importance to all designers,” she said, adding that there were products, which are designed to protect one’s potential to earn should one become disabled or in the event of death.

Rasebotsa noted that insurers placed a lot of reliance on statistical evidence and it had come out as a trend that people in the fashion industry party hard.

Masa Square Hotel sales and marketing manager, Neo Nkele said when the hotel launched the Masa Fashion Mentorship Programme and the Talk Shop Series, it envisioned that it would be a viable and sustainable manner of contributing towards the development of talent, creativity and entrepreneurialism among Botswana youth.

She encouraged the mentees to use the opportunity for their own personal growth and not take it for granted. Ends