PRETORIA – AT face value, he comes across as just any other fashion designer, but this is the man who creates apparels for the famous including cabinet ministers and parliamentarians that recently strutted the red carpet during the State of the Nation Address.

Omar Cisse (52), a veteran in the industry, is a self trained designer has seen it all in a career spanning pans over two decades dating back from his native Senegal, where he partially leant tricks of the trade from his uncle, Asan Diouf.

“It has not been a smooth road for me, but one thing that I have for this job is love. I love my job.

“For you to make it in this industry you have to be disciplined and have focus, but the biggest attribute you must have is love for your job,” says Cisse, who has found love in South Africa in the form of Portia, with who he has been blessed with two young daughters.

After migrating to South Africa 18 years ago, he is today the owner of Omar Creation, a fashion designing company that specialises in African attire and employs ten people.

Operating along Esselen Street, a busy road in Sunnyside near central Pretoria, the company designs clothes for three South African cabinet ministers and several parliamentarians. He cannot disclose these for “security reasons.”

“We make what is enough to pay our workers and have a decent life as a family. I have properties, but that is not for public consumption.

“I came to South Africa in 1998, but I started this company in 2003 here in Pretoria and since then I have not looked back as we have seen our business grow,” he says.

He is worried about cons in the industry.

“My biggest challenge is that people steal my ideas when they come to work for my company and reproduce them elsewhere. It’s so painful because I lose business to unscrupulous tricksters.”

Cisse wants to impart his knowledge to younger designers.

“I would like to start a fashion designing school which I will use to impart my knowledge to the younger generation so that they benefit. That way, people will not steal my ideas but get intricate knowledge they will use to uplift their lives and dreams.”

Portia interjects, “We want to speak to Tshwane Municipality and government to find if they can provide land for our dream to come true. We want this school to benefit South Africans and Africans at large. We are determined to have this school.”

PROFILE

Name: Omar Cisse

Age: 52

Born: Dakar, Senegal

Marital Status: Married to Portia with two daughters; Nothandazo and Siphosethu

Home: Proclamation Hill, Pretoria West

Car: Chevrolet Captiva

Award: Best Pan African Francophone Designer 2014