MONROVIA – The finale of the much-anticipated Orange Fashion Talent has taken place in Monrovia at the TM Mall in Mamba Point on the 1st of June. The event which was launched earlier this year brought together close to 70 participants who all went through several elimination rounds starting with the kickoff on March 30th. Speaking at a special post-event press conference to formally present prizes to the winners, the Fashion Talent Organizer Mrs. Courage Sackie thanked Orange for making the event a successful one.
“We have always known that there are exceptional fashion designers in Liberia, and through its program, Orange gives us the change to highlight that,” Mrs. Sackie said. She formally presented the three winners: Ruth G. Baigebo (third place, US $500), Haji Kamara (second place, US $500) and Siafa Massalay (first place, US $1,000) noting: “these are the winners, we are proud of them. There were incredible talents, but we only had room for one winner which Orange graciously expanded to three winners.” Besides winning the second place of the jury’s vote, Haji Kamara won the public’s vote by SMS, which brought him a Tecno NX 4G smartphone and US$50 of Orange scratch cards.
In a statement, the judges indicated that they had been considering several aspects in determining the winner including color coordination, measurement, design, seam allowances, finishing, and overall presentation. “We were pleasantly surprised that the contestants had some great background and knowledge. Even on the final night when we entered to see the final designs we were beyond impressed,” said Nene Smith who served as one of the judges.
Each of the winners expressed delight to have made it to the final and said that their prize monies would help them either launch or grow their businesses. Grand Prize winner Siafa Massalay thanked Orange for organizing the event and said: “The money may appear small for some and big for others but for me, it is a lot because it will help me start a business and when I become a millionaire, I will be able to say that it all started with Orange.” Third place winner Ruth Baigebo expressed a similar goal stating that she would use her prize money to improve her existing shop. “This prize will help me continue my dream to be the best designer in Liberia,” she said. She went on to encourage Orange to continue their support of fashion and to expand it to a make-up competition.
Orange Liberia’s Chief Marketing, Communication and Customer eXperience Officer Mr. Noel Chateau expressed his satisfaction about the outcome of the entire Orange Talent competition which included both a music component and a fashion component. “This event was beyond our expectation,” said Mr. Chateau “not only in terms of the participants but also the quality of the talents. I believe you all could compete anywhere in the world because of the level of your work.” “There is so much talent in Liberia that we believe it is key to develop such a platform to empower the young talented Liberians and give them the opportunity to showcase their talent to the world and get the opportunity to be recognized and grow to the next level.” He added that Orange was so impressed by the results of the competition that the company’s CEO Mr. Mamadou Coulibaly took the commitment to organize a second edition that will be revealed in 2019 and expanded to 2020.