The capital of fashion, Paris, is hosting the 2024 Olympics, where fashion lovers witnessed a unique display during the opening ceremony. Despite persistent rain, over 200 countries were represented by more than ten thousand athletes as they cruised down the River Seine.

Among the designers featured was the international Zimbabwean brand ‘Pfeka,’ owned by Eglet Mtengwa Nyabvure, a Zimbabwean fashion designer based in the Netherlands. Zimbabwe’s Olympic athletes and officials, who were among the last to parade in a ship at the opening ceremony, were dressed in Pfeka’s vibrant attire.

Pfeka’s national Olympic costume celebrates the ancient African history of Zimbabwe’s ancestors, who built their kingdoms in the 1100s without any modern technology. The standout piece was a cream blazer highlighting the Great Zimbabwe stones, paired with green pants symbolizing the positive energy of the Zimbabwean team and the nation’s hopes for their success. The use of the Masvingo print and the symbolic Zimbabwe bird, Hungwe, on the blazer was widely embraced and praised on social media.

Other outfits included a jacket inspired by Ndebele prints, characterized by vivid colors and symbolic patterns, and golf and T-shirts in Zimbabwe’s national colors of black, red, and gold. National Olympic kit wear is always a topic of conversation, with past examples like Pita Taufatofua of Tonga gaining international attention for his traditional attire at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Pfeka has a strong connection to sports, having designed for various Zimbabwean national teams, including the outdoor hockey team, the national tennis team, and the national netball team. The brand also designs sports fan jerseys infused with vibrant African prints. Among the celebrities who have endorsed Pfeka is international choreographer John Cole.

Eglet Mtengwa Nyabvure joins other renowned Zimbabwean fashion designers like Tapiwa Dingwiza-Kanhemba, who was part of the design team for the USA’s outfits at the Tokyo Olympics.

About Pfeka

‘Pfeka’ means “to wear” in Shona and is translated as “Gqoka” in Ndebele. Pfeka is a Zimbabwean clothing brand focused on African-themed clothing, balancing bold African prints with colorful patterns. It started as a sole proprietorship in 2018 and became a limited corporation in June 2020, with its Harare dispatch center registered at the beginning of 2021.

Eglet, who worked in the engineering and marine industry, created Pfeka to represent Zimbabwe through clothing. She designed the Masvingo print, inspired by Great Zimbabwe, to ensure true representation of her heritage.

This story of Zimbabwe’s rich cultural heritage and contemporary fashion was showcased on one of the world’s biggest stages, highlighting the nation’s pride and history through Pfeka’s designs.