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Tafadzwa Zimoyo
Fashion 263
Happy weekend to you all fashion bunnies.
Always dress well. Keep it simple, but significant.
I was having a chat with my friend Craig Twist on Thursday via social media.
We discussed trending fashion statements from United States rapper Lil Wayne and Zimdancehall sensation Tocky Vibes.
For a pause, both are talented when it comes to music and no one can dispute that.
However, their fashion statement entry this year, oh Lord, they have left heads turning and tongues wagging.
Well, when it comes to fashion, like they say it is all about confidence and something that makes you comfortable.
Lil Wayne is on to oversized, baggy three quarter jean short or should I say, a trouser.
In fact, it fits about four if not five people.
He is matching them with those big shirts and jackets.
The singer is well-known for causing trends, but let us pray that it does not come to Zimbabwe soon as you know most of our fashion bugs including wannabes, end up trying to cope the look.
Social media went agog about it and they later likened our own singer Tocky Vibes who of late has joined the band-wagon of causing a stir with fashion.
Surprisingly, the “Wakatemba” hit-maker always proves a point, one day he is into designer suits, clean style then the next if you don’t know him in the streets you can mistake him for a circus clown or zoo-keeper.
He is also into colourful outfits, big-baggy designer’s outfits and funny head-gear.
Where on earth are the two getting their inspiration from?
Late French-American columnist and fashion editor Diana Vreeland once said fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, with all the events.
“You can even see the approaching of a revolution in clothes. You can see and feel everything in clothes,” she said.
Fine, let us give the two space and time to show us what they are made of, remember art is different.
Again this week was also a roller-coaster as local men’s fashion store, “Pipeline” headed by Simbarashe Mambanda finally opened its doors on May 4.
What caught the attention of many was their provocative fashion advertising?
I am sure “Pipeline Fashions” must have looked at the market and studied their competition.
Having realised who the biggest brands in men’s fashion in the country are, Pipeline decided there is no better way to announce the opening of their new shop than by doing so on May 4, a date that is all too familiar in the Zimbabwean fashion world.
Ironically, there is a local men’s fashion dubbed 4May International.
The advertising was teasing at the least and close to provocative to other brands.
Almost all the fliers and teasers were clearly marked 4 May and cancelled before announcing that it is merely a date of the official opening of their new men’s fashion shop.
There was no response from the competition- 4 May International fashions but the adverts reminded many of the Mambos’ adverts in the food and restaurants sector.
The day came and indeed Pipeline fashions lined up their new shop in the outskirts of the busy Harare CBD with some dominant exterior and interior designs.
The marketing — prior to the grand entrance — was close to ambush and everyone was attracted to the adverts only to realise they are introducing a whole different fashion brand. Some attractive designer suits were displayed in the shop.
They came with the other male fashion accessories that included designer shoes, ties, blazers, socks and lapel pins which almost every men in fashion is always seen wearing.
The beginning was definitely attractive and Pipeline Fashions look like they are ready to challenge the local fashion big league.
Whether they will be able to handle the pressure to stay at the top remains to be seen.
In an interview with chief executive for Pipeline Fashions, Mambanda said this was the right time to have one store as now local men are embracing and appreciating the culture of fashion.
He said was targeting the winter style for a start.
“We have some of our merchandise which are coming in next week from Turkey and Italy. We are not into competition though but we support each other. There is no bad blood with the other shops. I am happy with how local men are into fashion, check on social media the pictures posted and walk in the streets of CBD, you can testify that somehow the women are being outshone by the men,” he said.
He added that fashion can help change the economy if taken seriously because everyone is always dressing up somehow.
According to British Council on “The Power of Fashion”, they wrote; “Fashion has always been an important part of how people define themselves and others. As such it can be a powerful tool of influence. Fashion’s influence can also be indirect and constitute a form of soft power.
”From Wellington’s boots to Gandhi’s shawl and Mao’s ‘Mao-suit’;from Elizabeth I’s ruffs to Diana’s dresses to Thatcher’s handbags, famous individuals become associated with certain clothes, which they often consciously use to project an image of themselves or their country.”
Online Reporter