SHAHBAAZ SAYED YUSUF: YOUNG AND TALENTED FASHION ENTHUSIAST

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Dear Fashion lovers!I hope you are enjoying this Rose quatz and serenity year(2016),Today I would like to share with you a Inspirational story from A talented Fashion Enthusiast and a winner of Personality of the year award in the Bongo style competition.And this is SHAHBAAZ SAYED YUSUF

SHAHBAAZ :I’m a 19 year old student currently studying  at al muntazir Islamic secondary, a fashion enthusiast.

One random day saw about this fashion designing and photography  competition for young designer and photographers  sponsored by FASDO  through my friends phone and this crazy feeling told me I should give it a try just for fun, so I randomly drew some sketches and sent them within few hours .

 

Few months had passed, I almost forgot about the competition. Then came the date when the young top ten designers and photographers all over Tanzania age ranging from 18-25 were to be announced through the internet. So after getting back from school, just to get rid of my curiosity I went online to check the results while scrolling through the text I came across my name amongst the top ten designers. I was speechless, I was still processing the information I was reading it was until then I realized I had made it to the top ten I was really surprised in the most exciting way , that’s the day that I first got attracted to designing

After the results were out I was contacted and was asked to join  camp for a week, that was  where we were  trained and  competed  to get into top five But unfortunately the camp was one week before my exams (I was really sad that I had to miss school) and I couldn’t let this chance go so after convincing myself to go for it, that’s when the hard part came when I had to explain my parents that I had to miss school  , it was very hard at first they straight away said no I couldn’t do this and could not miss school after hours of explain and begging they finally said yes but with some conditions one of them was to pass my exams and the other was if I couldn’t make to top five I had to forget about my fashion dreams forever .

Then I started preparing myself for the competition and for the exams at once. Then came the morning I was anxiously been waiting for the day I had to go to camp I was really nervous I never had such kind of experience. Once there I was really surprised I started wondering where have I come ,everybody there was professional  and experienced and me being there was just did not feel right , slowly my confident started to decrease but was really determined to become a fashion designer and I kept on hanging on .

The week was passing by really fast; I came to learn so many new things and was officially introduced & attracted to the fashion world and slowly got good at designing and stitching. Everyone loved me there because I was one of the youngest contestants. After going through too many tests and tasks the time when the top five were to be announced was finally here. I was really sad that day I was not expecting to get into top five at all and was thinking about my parent’s conditions on leaving fashion I could not just I imagine leaving fashion, after getting pulled by fashion, one by one great fashion designers name were being announced into the top five until one spot was remaining and out of nowhere I hear my name and burst into tears  from the joy and  happiness , quickly standing in my positions trying not to cry I smile as the group photo was being taken. I truly was overwhelmed by the exciting news and rushed to call my friends and family to let them know what happened .that great news marked the end of our camp, We headed back home to prepare for the finale now confident and determined to give my best I set off to a whole new world where I had to handle my student life and life as fashion designer.

Things were going great for me after I had passed my exams and got full support from my parents. I was now a finalist and had to present two outfits for a fashion show during the finale. really new to fashion I set off to make my outfits myself with some help because there was no tailor who could understand my ideas. I kept it really simple and elegant and finished my outfits. As the finale arrived I prayed to god to give me strength and confidence for the best. Sadly I did not win the competition but I did win the award for the best personality with a certificate which was also a great pleasure for me to win.

After the finale I realized I didn’t just win a trophy and a certificate I won something more than that; I got exposure, experience, confidence and really good friends which is much more worth it  .After the finale one of the judges a famous designer in East Africa Martin Kadinda   came to me and told me “you are the next big thing, only if you focus. You have the greatest potential!!!!!” this just made my day taking his statements as my inspiration and himself as a role model , I just think I could be the next big thing

I then realized at a very young age being able to achieve this  within a short period of time, this is just more than the most precious award I could receive. Now confident I set off to take one more step towards my dream goal and going as high as possible. There is nothing that can stop me now!!!!!!!

CREDIT: MITINDO PLUS BLOG