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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ESTABLISHED in 2012 as an offshoot of Emakhandeni Pirates, Premier Soccer League side Bulawayo Chiefs are steadily growing their brand and fast becoming the most innovative club in the country.

They are the league’s trendsetters and remain the only local club with a verified Twitter handle to date and have seized their popularity to venture into other income generating projects, always seeking to be first in just about everything.

Their latest offering is their own clothing line called Amakhosi Wear through which they have unveiled a 100 percent locally designed kit for use in the PSL.

For a club that started playing on the dusty Emakhandeni ground along Siyephambili Drive, next to Emakhandeni tennis courts, Chiefs have taken domestic football by storm and are on the lips of just about every fan for their versatility off the field of play.

Chiefs’ director Lovemore Sibanda, a local businessman with interests in farming and mining, has defied economic challenges to keep the club afloat at a time most individually-owned teams have collapsed.

Driven by the passion to create opportunities for footballers to develop and flourish, Sibanda has singlehandedly been bankrolling the club that has seen some of its products finding greener pastures elsewhere.

Witnessing the likes of forward Perfect Chikwende scoring the solitary goal against Botswana in Francistown that sealed the Warriors’ qualification for their fifth Afcon finals gave Sibanda satisfaction.

Chikwende now turns out for Tanzanian champions Simba SC.

Chiefs’ products Farau Matare and utility player Shadreck Nyahwa, who has been poached by Dynamos, made the Chan squad for the finals held in Cameroon at the beginning of the year, while midfielder Ransome Pavari is now a vital player at FC Platinum and defender Polite Moyo is a regular at Ngezi Platinum Stars.

Chiefs won the Southern Region Division One league title in 2017 and went on to hog the limelight as giant killers in their debut Premiership season in 2018 by claiming the scalps of FC Platinum, Chicken Inn, Dynamos and Highlanders.

Besides the giant killers’ tag, their hilarious tweets win them a lot of fans and sympathisers and now they boast of a following close to 50 000 on Twitter.

It is the growing fan base that has inspired Chiefs to establish its own brand, which it hopes will capture the local scene.

“I believe in teamwork and letting the guys freely express themselves so that we get desired results. We’ve come far to be where we are and it has really been a great team effort. There are times when things are really hard, but then you think of the amount of work the guys are putting in, the families that rely on them, and that becomes a booster one needs to work harder and ensure we sail through the turbulent waters,” said Sibanda.

“As we expand the business aspect of the club, we’ve come up with a fine brand, something for everyone, hence the clothing brand’s tagline ‘Built for everyone’, which clearly conveys a message that Amakhosi Wear is for everyone,” he said.

An innovative Chiefs team is busy working on producing products that excite the market.

Inspired by the desire to utilise local resources and contribute to the growth of the economy, Chiefs now have their own sportswear.

They used local designers and tailors to produce “high” quality kits and replicas that are on sale at Chiefs’ sports shop known as “The Kraal”.

“We’re using available resources for this exciting venture. It all starts with us realising that among ourselves as Zimbabweans, we’ve got people who can design nice things. We live in a nation where we can put things together and do it ourselves. A team of designers came up with a number prototypes and the process of selecting the designs we’ve churned out was taxing, yet exciting.

“Amakhosi Sportswear has come up with great, out-of-the-box designs that we believe will capture the market. The kits that have been churned out for Bulawayo Chiefs are the first in a line of outdoor sportswear, which features match kits, casual wear, T-shirts, tracksuits, windbreakers, sweaters, sports socks, backpacks, boot bags and a number of sports accessories. We are set to release a line of formal wear that will include office shirts, trousers, suits, chinos and ties bearing the unique cut of Amakhosi Wear,” said Javas Sibanda, the Chiefs’ spokesperson.

The club says Amakhosi Wear will venture into various lines of clothing, which will be a collection of apparel designed for a target audience and sold in retail shops and online stores.

Chiefs spokesperson said the idea of coming up with a clothing line was mooted during the Covid-19 lockdown.

“We had to move with the times and see how best we can develop and keep brand Bulawayo Chiefs viable outside the field of play. Business ideas were thrown around and we realised that the t-shirts and other memorabilia we were pushing at The Kraal were received well by the market. To keep the excitement going, we had to come up with our own line that will live long.

“Our hope is that Amakhosi Wear will not only produce sportswear for Bulawayo Chiefs, but other clubs, schools and different sectors of our economy,” Javas said.

On the Chiefs’ kits, Javas said:
“The fabric, bird’s eye, was carefully chosen from a variety of techno recommended sports material. The wear for Amakhosi Amahle is crafted in bird’s eye material, which is a cotton fabric made on a dobby loom, which results in a small, repetitive woven pattern that resembles diamonds. Bird’s eye is an eye-catching fabric with a characteristic pattern that lends itself to statement-making kit material as it tends to be lightweight and breathable, making it ideal for Bulawayo Chiefs.

“There’s less vynal, with Amakhosi Wear kits drawn and put to life through full sublimation. Sublimation is the cornerstone of our designs.

In simple terms, sublimation is a method of printing that transfers a design into a material or fabric using ink and heat. In the world of apparel, it’s a game changer in that it allows whole garment prints — designs that go seam-to-seam.”

Chiefs are confident that through aggressive marketing and production of quality and exciting designs, Amakhosi Wear will compete with other brands.

“What we want is to champion creativity in design and perfection in our products. We’re also open to custom made designs and people and corporates can trust us to do quality work for them,” said Javas.

Every year, new kit designs will be unveiled, as Chiefs keep up with global trends. — ZililoR