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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent

THREE Plumtree youngsters have launched a fashion label named Kasivage that seeks to uplift people who reside in townships.

Founded by Ishmael Ncube, Bokani Nleya and Nkosikhona Sibanda, Kasivage is slowly turning to be a favourite of many through its merchandise.

Ncube said the pilot project that mostly has winter clothing (hoodies and woolen hats) has taken off smoothly adding that they are now expanding and preparing for the summer season (t-shirts, caps and vests).

“Kasivage is a growing brand from Plumtree town. It’s a township brand that celebrates the ghettos, but also accommodates everyone regardless of the suburb they’re from.

“The label was initiated in 2018 as a joke as we were contemplating on ways to overcome discrimination that we’d been facing in colleges and varsities for our dressing as people who came from a small town and a high density suburb for that matter,” said Ncube.

“As township youths, we’re judged by what we wear. Sixty percent of teenage depression is caused by social media as people tend to judge people from what they eat, their dressing, and even how they party.

“This has led to many youngsters joining a trend of looking and acting rich rather than actually working on getting rich. This, therefore, led us to come up with this clothing label that would appeal to most people without segmenting them,” said Ncube.

He said they will soon be setting up an online store with plans to rope in celebrities to popularise the brand underway.

“We’re now working on the summer collection and we’ll be introducing an online shop next week so that people from outside the country will be able to order. This is mostly targeted at our clients in Botswana and South Africa.

“We’re also in talks with Prince Dube, the Tanzania-based former Highlanders player whom we want to become our brand ambassador. In Harare, we’re in talks with an influencer, Cleo Gigi whom we’re also trying to collaborate with for our female summer collection. We want her to be the female face of our brand,” said Ncube.

Recently, Ncube took part in The Village African Entrepreneurs boot camp whose main aim was to empower African entrepreneurs with the necessary tools and knowledge required to build successful businesses.

“As part of increasing the brand visibility, I took a walk through unfamiliar terrain and emancipated myself with tools to forge a blueprint for those to come after me. The information about the African free trade agreement enlightened my perspective, something that I highly recommend African entrepreneurs to be aware of and understand.

“The understanding of the ecosystem about the business chain, business etiquette, the importance of marketing as well as strategic partnership among African entrepreneurs is value added to a long-term vision I have for myself as an individual and the company as a whole,” said Ncube.

He said through the training, the fashion label put to test the famous phrase by Napoleon Hill which says: “The energy that you keep around you defines who you are”. – @mthabisi_mthire