Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
ALL athletes want to make history, but for two Zimbabwean sportspersons writing their names in stone is not enough, they are wearing history, literally.
The Lock brothers, Benjamin and Courtney were not donning an ordinary kit at the Ambato Challenger in Ecuador, they were wearing a special piece of art work and history.
The pair are proudly wearing kits that proudly tell the history of the country’s stone city — Great Zimbabwe. Via a Twitter post, the youngest of the brothers, Benjamin said he is very proud of wearing the history rich t-shirt.
“This shirt holds the history of Great Zimbabwe and the ingenious work of the ancestors of the modern Shona people, an extensive stone ruins of an African iron age city in Zimbabwe. Proud to be wearing this piece of history,” said Benjamin.
The white shirt, with a design of stonewalls was made by Pfeka Clothing and the brand founder Eglet Mtengwa Nyabvure told Saturday Chronicle that they wanted to come up with something simple hence they took up inspiration from the name “Zimbabwe” which is loosely translated to “House of Stones” before looking at capturing the brilliant ruins.
“One of Pfeka’s goals is to always present and tell the beautiful story of Zimbabwe. We therefore, used our creativity to capture the history of the nation and found a clever way not so ordinary or so obvious of bringing it into our wardrobe. And for a start, we decided to go for simplicity, we took inspiration from just the country name Zimbabwe, loosely translated to house of stones,” said Nyabvure.
She added: “We then looked at the Great Zimbabwe monument, and how the ruins are a brilliant sign of ingenuity of the Zimbabwean ancestors. We had to capture this simple but amazing fact of Zimbabwe and use it as our inspiration.”
Nyabvure said they are excited that the Lock brothers have embraced their unique products.
“When the big names wear your brand, it’s a clear positive nod and an acknowledgement to your good work. We have put in the work and time to create a beautiful product so we are absolutely excited and grateful that these big names in Zimbabwean tennis have also embraced the value and the uniqueness of our products,” said Nyabvure.
The Lock brothers are not the only tennis players to have been dressed by Pfeka. The layout and combination on the Lock brothers’ shirts was, however, made specifically for them.
The unique brand founder is also open and looking forward to having Zimbabwean sports people across different sporting codes don their merchandise as it will help carry and showcase the uniqueness of their nation.
“And we are looking forward to that as it is also part of our desire to have the sports people across different sporting codes embrace and wear Zimbabwean brands with pride. We see that sport brings people together and gives an opportunity to celebrate the nation, so wearing Pfeka will support them carry that positive and unique story of Zimbabwe as well as showcasing her beautiful brands and products,” she said.
The Lock brothers and the historic shirt managed to reach the semifinals of the Ambato Challenger.
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