10 minutes with local taste makers

Disney Andreas

It’s another fast-paced Friday when I meet Disney Andreas at The Pantry in the heart of Windhoek. While the capital’s main street bustles outside, we’re seated at the perfect people-watching spot in this cocoon of a cosmopolitan lounge. But today, we’re not peoplewatching. Although, meeting up with Disney does feel like effortlessly catching up with an old friend.

To those in the fashion industry, Disney is no stranger. Co-founding Monochrome Magazine – a Namibian lifestyle platform showcasing local creatives – sparked a love-affair withfashion that manifested itself in a personal blog, and most recently, a hat collection that was launched at Windhoek Fashion Week in 2020. Right now, her Instagram (@disney.andreas) is where it’s at.

Follow Disney and dive into a feed that is every bit as informative as it is visually pleasing. Her stories come as daily reminders to wear fabulous footwear, always. And today, in The Pantry and in between meetings, she’s sporting a pair of black satin slippers. Timeless elegance, no?

The message in her bio is clear: “Sustainable Fashion Enthusiast.” I asked her what sustainability means to her, since it has become such a word-of-the-moment and the message sometimes gets lost. For Disney, sustainable fashion considers the working environments of the workers, first and foremost. She encourages everyone to ask the retailers they support that million-dollar question: who made my clothes?

Buying sustainably in Namibia, as you may or may not know, can be challenging. Naturally, the majority of us “sustainable fashion enthusiasts” flock to buying vintage, thrift, secondhand or anything extraordinary we can get our hands on. Disney, of course, gets her thrift right from the source: her Mother’s Closet. Other incredible staples that form the basis of Disney’s wardrobe were bought at open markets in northern Namibia. In her very go-getter fashion, she launched Style Swop, an event that has successfully brought fashionistas of all walks (and Disney’s influence) together to find new homes for their pre-loved items.

Don’t let her ridiculously aesthetic feed fool you, it’s not her full-time job… Disney is qualified in geography and environmental studies, and as the fable goes, dabbling in entrepreneurship led her down the rabbit hole to create a space for herself and Monochrome within the greater spectrum of the Namibian creative industry. The satin-slippered sustainable fashionista’s 8-5 (if there were ever such a thing) is as a communications officer at the Namibia Nature Foundation. Now I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoy consuming beautiful content with all the brains to back it up. We are making an impact, we are not just influencing anymore.

Disney, of course, gets her thrift right from the source: her Mother’s Closet.

Amongst all of Disney’s sharp-witted catch phrases and quotes – she is a communications queen, after all – one stood out in particular. I think it might be the manifesto for all our fellow tastemakers: “Let them find us creating.”

July by DSNY A hats are available to purchase via DM with prices ranging from N$450 - N$850 .

Charene Labuschagne