Soweto young creatives turn love for fashion into a successful brand
The magnificent emerge from Soweto.
Creativity is said to be intelligence having fun, this is seen through a young group of friends who have decided to use their creative minds to good use.
In 2015, Thulane Makubo, Karabo Morida and Boikanyo Mmolaeng came together to establish New age swag (NAS), a streetwear fashion brand incorporated with athleisure wear. The trio was later joined by two more directors, Nyiko Mashaba and Omphemetse Merakeng.
They explained that they had started making their own clothes as they have always loved fashion but hated the idea that many international brands were expensive.
“We have always loved fashion and clothing, so we began printing our own stuff to wear, but to our surprise this led to a largely positive reaction from people,” said Makubo.
He continued to say that from there onwards, they knew they had to put their talent to good use and into a bigger purpose, a clothing brand.
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The motivation behind the brand was the South African streetwear that they grew up following.
They saw the local brands grow to bigger heights. Their brand is a streetwear fashion brand with a touch of athleisure wear. “We are all about introducing creative designs inspired by the South African youth culture.”
They explained that they design and brainstorm ideas almost every week and then decide on which ones to use. The ones they use are those that incorporate a large market and can be easily relatable to many people who understand the message they are trying to get out to the public.
In order to get to the top, there are always obstacles that one faces. Those obstacles are only there to build one and can only lead to greatness. New age swag has experienced some mishaps prior to the success.
“We have had problems of having large amounts of stock to meet our demand and securing suppliers that would provide us with the best quality material.”
Although they may have faced some challenges, they were able to overcome them and have now attracted larger markets that stretch beyond the Gauteng province. New age swag had also been nominated as Clothing Brand of the Year by the 011 awards in 2019.
“Through this brand we have also been able to have our director, Thulane Makubo to be listed as a member of the EDHE Studentpreneurship Community of Practice representing the University of Johannesburg among other students from the 26 universities in South Africa.”
They stated that they currently have no sponsors, but they are looking for equity funders that would offer sound terms. They are also expanding their project and looking into many retail outlets as well as to have a big online store for their products.
“We are looking into having celebrity influencers that will expand our reach. we are also willing to work with photography and videography creatives to produce quality content for the market.”
They continued to say that they have began in terms of collaborating with other local brands.
In order to remain relevant, they have creatives that do videos of their merchandise. They post the videos on social media and receive a lot of engagements.
“We engage a lot with our market in terms of new designs which are going to be introduced.”
They are still building and investing into their social media. They are on Instagram @new_age_swag and their Facebook page is New Age Swag Clothing ZA.
The love and feedback they receive from their customers and the rising demand for their products motivates them to keep going strong.
“It shows that we are doing something right and will continue to do so till we rack up millions in turnover. We continue to design looks every time to be inspired to show our creativity to the world.”
Looking into the future, the group has a lot in-store to give to the world. “Our short-term goal is to achieve much bigger social media presence and have larger engagements with social media users.”
Their long-term goals include being the biggest streetwear fashion in South Africa. they also want to collaborate with big brands whether in the fashion industry or other relative industries in media.
“We have already approached big corporate brands and have received feedback. We are hoping these will fall into place in due time.”
“A wise man once said nothing at all and did something about it.” This is a quote that is currently keeping us motivated to keep pushing.
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