Naemi Paulus turns heads in Namibia’s fashion scene

From a shy girl in a small town to a bold, emerging designer making waves in Windhoek, Naemi Paulus is quietly redefining what it means to create with intention, resourcefulness and pride.

“I was a shy girl," she recalls. “A little bit quiet. I loved staying in and watching TV. I did not feel like I fit in with other kids well, so I mostly kept to myself. I did not really feel understood."

But even in that quiet space, her creativity was already beginning to take shape.

Born and raised in Walvis Bay, Paulus says she had no obvious creative influences growing up.

By the age of 12, however, she was selling hand-drawn portraits to earn her own money.

“We had enough growing up,” she explains. “But as a child, you compare what you have and don’t have to others. I did not like asking my parents for money. So lunch money and extras were on me."

She braided hair and sold portraits to support herself. “It instilled a lot of discipline in me. I had to work for it".

The magic of dressing up

Fashion entered her life through pageantry.

Paulus describes herself as a “pageant girl” who fell in love with dressing up long before she understood design as a career path. Some of her most treasured memories are late nights spent with her mother and sister, working on competition outfits.

“Staying up the night before with my mom and my sister, working on my outfits, those are core memories,” she says. “We loved outshining the competition and eventually got a reputation for always dressing the best”.

It was in the creative wear category that something clicked.

“I personally loved making my creative wear outfits. That is where I realised I love modelling, mainly because I get to make a cool new outfit or evening gown," she remembers.

"It was the highlight of my night to show the crowd what I made”.

Still, becoming a designer was not a fixed dream from the start. “The dream developed over time,” she admits. “Being a jack of all trades makes it really hard to focus on one thing. I go through what I call creative episodes”.

Turning hobby into art

Her first major turning point came after showcasing at the Katutura Fashion Show in 2024 – her first fashion show.

“The night was amazing. I had a couple of collaboration shoots with that collection and it was overwhelming but in a good way”. It was the moment she realised her hobby was resonating beyond her inner circle.

Despite her growing profile, Paulus remains entirely self-taught. She bought her first sewing machine without knowing how to use it. “I watched a tonne of YouTube tutorials and broke a lot of needles before I got the hang of it,” she says. Within two or three months she had created her first garment she considered “legit”.

One of her most talked-about creations was a denim evening gown made from second-hand jeans she found at Oshakati Open Market.

The jeans cost N$15. “They were too big for me to wear, so the next best thing was to cut them up and make a gown,” she says. “I love recycling and giving new life to old things”.

Another powerful piece is her Independence Day-inspired gown, a hand-painted white dress that reimagines the Namibian flag as a garment of pride. “I felt we have such a rich history and I wanted to showcase it the best way I know how, through fashion.”

Paulus is currently studying geomatics at the Namibian University of Science and Technology and is still undecided about pursuing fashion full-time.

Showcasing in South Africa is her next realistic dream. For now she continues to create and learn. “My generation is bold and gutsy; we do not apologise for being ourselves,” she says. In that unapologetic spirit, Naemi Paulus is stitching together more than garments; she is making statements one stitch at a time.