Malawi fashion designer on a mission to fill ‘creativity gap’ as Afro Fashion Tour lands in Lilongwe

A Lilongwe-based fashion designer has vowed to shake up Malawi’s fashion scene, claiming there’s a huge gap in the industry where creativity simply isn’t being nurtured — and she’s determined to change that.

Mehmuna Schumann has already taken her ambitious Afro Fashion Tour to Mali and Tunisia, and last night the star-studded event finally touched down in Malawi, lighting up Kuwala Gardens in Lilongwe with a dazzling showcase of local design talent.

Fourteen models strutted the runway to showcase a stunning array of designs, giving Malawian audiences a glimpse of the kind of bold, expressive fashion Schumann believes has been sorely missing from the industry.

Speaking at the glitzy event, Schumann explained her vision behind the tour, revealing she wanted to create a platform where designers and models alike could break free from convention and truly express themselves creatively — something she feels has too often been stifled in Malawi’s fashion circles.

The tour’s arrival has been hailed as a major moment for the local industry, with insiders hoping it could open doors to greater international exposure for Malawian designers and models who have long struggled to break onto the global stage.

One model who took to the runway, Snikiwe Chasweka, said the experience had been nothing short of inspiring.

She praised the event for offering more than just a chance to shine on the catwalk — describing it as a genuine opportunity for both financial and creative growth, at a time when many young models in Malawi struggle to find platforms that offer both exposure and fair compensation.

The Afro Fashion Tour’s growing footprint across the continent — from Mali to Tunisia and now Malawi — reflects a wider push to spotlight African design talent on a bigger stage, championing bold, homegrown creativity that organisers say has too often been overlooked by the mainstream fashion world.

With whispers already circulating about where the tour might head next, excitement is building over what this could mean for Malawi’s fashion future — and whether Schumann’s bold vision can genuinely help close the so-called creativity gap she’s spent years trying to fix.