"My fashion design experience has laid the foundation for my creative work. My curiosity and creative wandering has driven me to explore storytelling through photography, and film. This has led me to work in wardrobe and project coordination roles for a variety of music videos and film productions. I have a strong creative vision, voice, and administrative experience that enable me to understand and contribute to the development of successful and impactful visual works."
- Danayi Madondo
- Danayi Madondo
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ABOUT
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_______ THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE PORTAL
"My work is informed by the Shona tradition of Kugovera Nhumbi, where clothing is recognized as a vessel for the soul. I design with the awareness that every stitch is an archive, and every textile is a portal through which memory travels." - Danayi Madondo | Creative Director |
Fashion Alchemist | Cultural Strategist | Speaker
Danayi Madondo is a Zimbabwean fashion practitionar exploring the intersection of cloth, consciousness, and culture. Based in Harare, her multidisciplinary practice functions as a living archive, interweaving ancestral storytelling with modern regenerative design to expand global cultural discourse. At the core of Danayi’s work is her philosophy, "Cloth as a Portal"—a belief that textiles are more than material; they are mediums for healing, memory, and reimagining the future. Through this lens, she challenges the global fashion industry to move beyond surface-level aesthetics and return to the intuitive and spiritual roots of design. She is the founder of Haus of Stone, a slow-fashion brand that creates experiential apparel for the conscious wanderer, utilizing fashion as a vehicle to narrate nuanced Zimbabwean and broader African experiences. As a Fashion textile artists, her works emerge from an intuitive and contemplative process that prioritizes the sensory experience, interweaving diverse handcrafts through a regenerative approach that minimizes waste. With over five years of experience as a freelance project coordinator, art director, and creative image consultant, Danayi also operates as a Cultural Strategist. She bridges the gap between heritage and commerce, guiding brands to tap into their intuitive nature to establish truly authentic narratives. Whether facilitating transformative masterclasses or engaging in high-impact public discourses, Danayi offers a voice for those looking to build brands that don’t just exist in the market, but resonate in the soul. |
CV
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PRESENTATIONS & WORKSHOPS
2025 Zimbabwe Fashion Week - Panelist - (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2025 TWYG Africa Textile Talks - Speaker - (Cape-town, South-Africa) 2025 Music Connects Africa Masterclass - 'Brand & Image Development Masterclass' - Facilitator (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2025 The UK Circle London Event @ 180 Studios on the Strand (London, United Kingdom) 2024 FAME Week Africa - Panelist - (Cape-town South-Africa) 2023 University of Texas @ Austin College of Natural Science - Guest Lecturer (Austin, Texas, USA) 2023 Creative DNA @ IATF - Intra Africa Trade Show (Cairo, Egypt) 2023 British Textile Biennale - Fashion Futures Round Table (Blackburn, United Kingdom) 2023 British Council x Fashion Scout Creative DNA: Africa Programme (London, United Kingdom) 2022 TAG Festival -The Arts Gathering: Full Circle - Exhibitionist (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2022 Prohelvetia x MotoRepublik – Cut From The Same Cloth Collaborative Training - Mentor (Zambia & Zimbabwe) 2021 StarFMs – The 360 Music Review - Image Strategy Panelist (Zimbabwe) 2021 AfriDigitial x The British Council - #CONNECTCREATE: Fashion Masterclass – Speaker (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2021 Creative Tribe ZW - SheVillage Speaker - Speaker (Zimbabwe) 2020 A Banc ABC Zimbabwe Entrepreneurs’ FREE webinar series - Creative Enterpreneurs in the market ready? - Panelist (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2020 Fashion Conversations – Creative Musings - Speaker (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2020 Virtual Fashion Open Studio – One Garment, Many Hands Workshop – Speaker (London, England) 2020 Tamba Africa - NYAKASIKANA: Our Strength is in Our History Workshop – Speaker (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2019 Creative Avenue x The British Council – SCRAPBOOK Fashion Design Sessions - Speaker (Harare, Zimbabwe) |
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
2025 British Council Zimbabwe in partnership with the Swiss Embassy – Lead Program Delivery Partner of The Creative DNA Zimbabwe Fashion Accelerator Program (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2022- 2023 Alkebulan Film by Run-Ngano Creatives Pvt Ltd – Head of Wardrobe Department (Rwanda, Zimbabwe) 2021 Run-Ngano Creatives Pvt Ltd - Production Manager Trainee (Rwanda, Zimbabwe) 2021 The Story of Nehanda by Meso Maviri x Nelned Pictures – Production Coordinator: wardrobe, props & set design (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2020 - 2021 Beyond The Now Digital Campaign by The United Nations Development Program Zimbabwe – Project Coordinator/ Art Director (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2018 Titan Law Polo Runway Show - Production Coordinator (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2018 Omnicor Runway Show - Production Coordinator (Harare, Zimbabwe) |
RECOGNITION
2025 Top Female Designer in the Fashion Industry of Zimbabwe 2025 - Zimbabwe Clothing Manufacturers Award (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2024 Prince Claus Seed Awardee (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 2024 JCI 1 of 10 Outstanding Young Persons - Honoree - Cultural Achievement (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2022 European Film Festival Zimbabwe – Winner of Best Sound Editing Award (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2022 European Film Festival Zimbabwe - Nominated for Best Narrative, Best Cinematography & Best Sound Editing (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2022 Style Icon Zimbabwe Awards – Winner of the Stylist of the year Award (Harare, Zimbabwe) 2020 Lablaco's Circular Fashion Summit 1 of 10 BIPOC designers - Honoree - (Paris, France) 2018 Zimbabwe International Women's Awards - Nominated for the Entrepreneur of the year Award (UK, Zimbabwe) 2015 Zimbabwe International Women's Awards - Nominated for Best Emerging Designer (UK, Zimbabwe) POSITIONS
2020 – present Fashion Revolution Zimbabwe - Board Advisor 2021 – 2023 Fashion Council of Zimbabwe - Board Trustee |