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Tsitsi Tasaranarwo Arts Correspondent
The fashion industry is continuing to change globally as new brands are being launched frequently. Fashion is an important aspect in people’s lives as it reflects their beliefs, character, personality and they have freedom of expression through their dressing.
Shona King is another Zimbabwean brand launched recently by renowned photographer anddesigner Gift Vince Nyere.
The brand has merchandise on t-shirts, track suits, hoodies and caps for everyone and is selling globally, with local ones being sold by order. In an interview with The Herald Arts, Nyere said the inspiration behind the brand launch was through recognising the Shona culture. “I have launched the Shona King brand to appreciate and be proud of our Shona culture. If you check, we have Zulu King, Tswana King, but there is not someone who calls himself Shona King.
“I will be someone who is proud to wear the Shona items. No one is being proud to wear something to ensure that they appreciate Shona culture, that is why we came up with the idea of the Shona King.”
They developed the brand to also cater for women called Shona Queen because of high demand from their clients on social media.
“We first launched Shona King, but later on launched Shona Queen because of social media since a lot of people were demanding for us to launch Shona Queen,” said Nyere.
“So far we have been pushing this on our own, we have about three agents moving it and we have also some of our models who are helping. We have DJs such as DJ Smith on deck and some people from Karma know the brand.
“We have not yet faced challenges since we are doing something different from other brands and we are still learning about the business industry.”
The brand is mostly appreciated by Shona people outside the country compared to the locals. I do not know why no one can receive what is produced in their own country, but if it is coming from Dubai, India and South Africa people can endorse it,” he said.
“We are not targeting a specific group, but everyone who is proud of being Shona.
“People who are outside the country receive or trust the brand more than people in the country because these people who are already outside Zimbabwe, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere are proud of being Shona and it makes sense to them.”
The Shona King brand is flexible and it is not focused on the fashion industry only as the brand can be printed on items such as iPads, phone pouches and even note books.
“So far, we don’t have collaborations as the Shona King brand was registered only last week. Now that the brand is registered, we are open for collaborations.”
Online Reporter