SINGER songwriter Cindy Munyavi certainly has the oomph that is needed for any artiste and she is just the diva of the season this summer.
Having learnt a thing or two from performances in Brazil last summer, the lessons learnt seem all too evident in her dress sense in the heat this season.
She isn’t afraid to show a bit of skin … or even a lot as she sweats sensuality, sex appeal and above all confidence – but her choice of fabrics makes her the envy of her nation.
“This summer I am dressing in anything that is sassy, elegant, sexy and pretty,” Cindy says of her look.
And so she must. Being on stage means that she needs garments that can breathe and fabrics that are light.
If not, she can use heavy fabrics but ensure that the cut and design allows for her clothes to breathe as she goes through her motions and most importantly that her skin be allowed to sow that sophisticated colour which makes her audiences want to lick her … you could swear she is smeared with caramel and butterscotch!
Yet in spite of her erogenous stage being, she has a peculiar dislike for Avant-garde, unlike the sensual modern diva.
“I used to be a tomboy but I have started to fall in love with feminine clothes that is why I am dressing pretty.”
And pretty she dresses. Forget the meat, burnt fabrics, grass on fabrics, cooking stick on fabric in the name of indigenous material, Cindy will toss those away before you can say Rumpelstiltskin! Instead she wants something that makes her comfortable.
“I need to move comfortably. I don’t want to worry about squatting and thinking my stitches may snap,” she declares.
That is why she is a fan of the grounded fabrics, cuts and designs of the world stage presented by Roberto Cavalli, Chanel, Versace- she is heir sort of girl.
And yet she dresses local. Stitch got up close and personal with the diva and her catalogue as she shot the video to her new single under the Bryce Nation label. And, as a thumbs up to local, all her dresses were by local names … with a local stitch and style!
How is that for ‘local is lekker’?
She did not think twice about taking a dip in the cold pool with her full scarlet motif java dress made for her by her Zimbabwean designer, US-based though, Ednah Ndebele. The material, a sweet java, also happens to be local.Advertisement

“I love java. And the designers that work with java have made it modern and chic. It is definitely my fabric for this summer season,” she says in something of Catholic confessional style.
She should sound like that … she is a Catholic girl. No wonder she evokes the Madonna-rish ‘Like a Prayer’ haunt as she speaks of her love for fabric. And her sensuality!
And when she is done with the photo shoot in the pool, the water is shimmering against the afternoon summer heat. Obviously she was so hot that she turned the pool into a hot spring! Now, how’s that for hotness.
“Local is the way to go. With designers like Maita Marimo, Mucha by Tsitsi Mutendi and Ednah Ndebele, why would anyone want to wear anything that is not Zimbabwean made?”
She says this season for her it’s any partnership with java that is her material of choice. Java and leather, java and drill, java and lycra, java and denim … just don’t put any wood or mutsvairo onto that and you have her satisfied!And with make up by Bybit Areketa to top it up, Cindy is ready to torpedo the minds of the lads as she paints the town and sets fire to the stage!