Chronicle Editor
Angela Sibanda, Showbiz Correspondent
Local clothing brands have always brought a sense of pride to whoever wears them as long as they understand where and how the label came to be.
Enter Emadonkn clothing brand by a graphic designer from Bulawayo named Talent Samukelo Makanuko. The label is slowly becoming a must-have as many people are sampling the product and wearing it with pride.
The label is named after Old Pumula suburb where in the olden days people used donkey drawn carts to transport a number of goods. The high population of donkeys saw the suburb earning nickname emadonkini (a place of donkeys).
Not surprisingly, many people from the suburb were in the past reluctant to say they are from Pumula with pride. Now they do, largely thanks to creatives from the suburb that have, for the past few years, made it a bit comfortable and safe for someone to mention that they are from Emadonkini.
Talent is one of the creatives. The self-taught graphic designer acquired his skills through online tutorials and digital short courses.
Emadonkn clothing brand has been under construction for the past six months. The label stands out due to its unique design of a donkey in sunglasses printed on t-shirts, bucket hats, caps and hooded jackets.
“It started off as an idea of doing something that represents our hood, and I shared the idea with my friend Mandla the Comedian who is also from Pumula South and he fully supported it.
“First, we just did a small logo that we used for Mandla’s outfits and it looked good so we decided to enlarge the logo into bigger prints for t-shirts and then bucket hats, caps and jackets. And so far, the bucket hat is the most selling item,” said Talent.
Unlike most local clothing brands that are a bit unaffordable for ordinary people, Emadonkn products are fairly priced, making them an easy buy for the unemployed in the high-density suburb.
“The idea is to promote a sense of pride and we are targeting people from the locality whom we understand are facing different financial challenges because of the current economic situation in the country.
“We, however, plan on expanding to high quality material for those who can afford them but the cheap ones will remain available so that everyone has access to the brand,” he said.
Talent also said the brand focuses more on creating reputation and good relations with clients rather than mass production.
According to him, this will enable the brand to survive and strive in an already saturated clothing industry.
“Through studying the already existing brands, I have noticed that most people buy cheap quality material and print their logos just to sell at high prices. That doesn’t make much sense because the products lose their shape just after four washes and such clients do not come back.
“My idea is to focus on keeping clients rather than making new ones and making high sales that will only last for a short season and then lose credibility,” he said.
Unlike the uniform t-shirts that most brands are currently offering, Emadonkn is set to have a range of different designs on different items that will be offered under the brand.
“I have actually realised that many people do not like twinning or bumping into someone wearing the exact outfit as they would be. So, we are going to be having limited editions for all designs and we will be introducing new unique designs periodically to keep the brand alive and relevant.
“Our plan is to have products for everyone for summer and winter, some of these we already have but we will be introducing new items along the way,” he said.
Online Reporter