In Lusaka’s buzzing creative corridors, where culture, commerce, and couture converge, Karen Nakawala has quietly built one of Southern Africa’s most enduring fashion institutions.
As the Executive Director of Zambia Fashion Week, she has turned what once was a fledgling industry into a dynamic platform that elevates designers, nurtures talent, and projects Zambia’s creative spirit onto the regional fashion map.
Nakawala’s foray into fashion was rooted in entrepreneurship and storytelling. Long before Zambia Fashion Week became a headline-grabbing annual event, Nakawala was already championing the creative sector through her company, Afro Multi Media Productions, which produces media content and events that showcase Zambia’s cultural assets.
Under her leadership, Zambia Fashion Week has run annually since 2009, evolving into a premier showcase that brings together established names and emerging designers from across Zambia and the region.
The event traditionally takes place at Lusaka’s Mulungushi International Conference Center and, year after year, has laid bare the continent’s creative talent through runway shows, industry panels, and strategic partnerships.
Nakawala has always framed fashion as more than couture and catwalks: it is a trade, a career pathway, and a driver of economic opportunity. In media coverage of the 2016 edition she emphasised that fashion can revive Zambia’s textile industry, create jobs, and contribute to the national economy if harnessed as a serious sector rather than a fringe creative hobby.
It’s a perspective that has steered Zambia Fashion Week’s programming.
Over the years, the event has widened its scope to include not only runway shows but also business-oriented initiatives that connect designers with buyers, media, and international stakeholders.
In some editions, the show has featured more than 50 designers, and even welcomed guest designers from neighbouring countries, a testament to how the platform has grown in regional relevance.
Partnerships under Nakawala’s leadership have been instrumental in expanding the event’s reach.
For example, Vodafone Zambia’s sponsorship of Fashion Week helped cultivate wider public engagement and spotlighted local creative entrepreneurs, reinforcing Nakawala’s mantra that the fashion sector must attract both cultural and commercial investment.
Nakawala’s influence extends beyond fashion.
She has also become a recognized media personality in Zambia, working as a radio presenter for many years and leveraging her communications background to amplify stories about creative industries.
Her diploma in international relations, marketing, and advertising provided a foundation for bridging business understanding with creative expression, a duality that has become her professional hallmark.
Her work has earned recognition beyond the runway.
In 2017, she was named among the Top 50 Most Influential Fashion Icons and Power Players by African New Women Magazine, and in 2018 she was honoured as the Zambia Chamber of Commerce Female Entrepreneur of the Year — accolades that acknowledge both her entrepreneurial leadership and her contribution to mainstreaming fashion as an economic sector in Zambia.
Today, Nakawala’s legacy with Zambia Fashion Week is visible in how the country’s fashion scene is perceived. What was once a small gathering of designers and models has become a celebrated annual event that not only showcases creativity but also promotes cultural pride, entrepreneurship, and job creation.
Through her stewardship, fashion in Zambia has shifted from being a niche interest to a platform recognised for its potential to contribute to national identity and economic growth.
Karen Nakawala has given Zambian designers a stage and, most importantly, a future beyond the catwalk.
