Fashion design duo enters the music industry
The duo aims to continue to wow audiences with their daring, sometimes downright outrageous, one-of-a-kind designs.
Former Benonian Abiah Mahlase made it big when he co-founded a fashion and interior design brand called Amen with his pal, Bradley Muttitt, but now the duo is broadening their spectrum into the music industry.
“We started the Amen fashion brand in 2012,” the duo said.
“After being crowned Best Design Duo of season four of South African design competition Win A Home, we expanded the business to include an interior decor department.”
Having worked for various fashion brands and backgrounds in freelance styling, the two felt the need to add their voices to the fashion climate.
“A fashion brand for those who dared to be different and were not afraid to dream big,” Brad said.
“Both Abiah and I are known for our bold and daring designs, therefore, Amen appealed to us a brand name. It’s bold, impactful and hard to define, much like our fashion aesthetic.”
According to the designers, it is the first time they have released a song and stepped into a studio that had a microphone in the place of a mannequin.
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When the City Times asked about other songs in the pipeline, they said it is dependent on whether the debut track is a sizzling, fashion chart-topping yay or a nay.
“We yearned to express our feelings about fashion and the fashion industry in a new way. So instead of creating a collection, we created a song about fashion and the showstopping shenanigans of the fashion industry’s who’s who,” they explained.
“The hardest part was finding a beat that captured, captivated and excited us to step up to the microphone.
“Once we found that, the next challenge was to come up with a hook to the song that was not capable of being annoying no matter how many times we had to listen to it.
“We wanted to create a song that dealt with the serious problems facing the South African fashion industry, while not taking ourselves too seriously.”
However, their perseverance wasn’t in vain, for the two dug deep into their souls and chose to a record a meaningful track instead of competing with high notes.
“We stopped trying to hit notes only Mariah Carey could pitch and decided to have an honest conversation about our experience as young, forever up-and-coming designers in the fashion world.
“It wasn’t easy, but then again neither is manoeuvring one’s way around a fashion industry guest list.”
