#TFF17

Tshwane Fashion Festival

Bongani Tambo

Designer: Retrovintagekolektion

Q & A

Q – What is your goal with Tshwane Fashion Festival?

A – “As you can see and heard from people residing in Pretoria have been question for a long time about who will take the first step to show us all that we are serious about building a brand, culture, a group, fashion wear, food, lifestyle and trends.

Many individuals go to Johannesburg to try and make it because jozi is where many things are and taking place, well known places like Maboneng, so it’s also time we work together as much as a group of Miteale, myself and other local upper level of hard workers of the Vintage club, that with Tshwane Fashion Festival and Social Market with also other events, we should be able to attract the Market and media from across the country.

I started on the streets with the Vintage club idealists pushing our work and striving for success also being committed in what we're doing.  The attention we got from viewers was amazing. They were interested in our movement.”

Q – Why is this not a brand but a culture that you passionate about?

A – Most people focus on individualism when it comes to brands, along the way you can lose focus but should people combine their art work, it becomes magic.

Q – Where is the root of your inspiration?

A – Vintage, I grew up in a family with parents that showed us the direction of wearing classic wear and with no money to buy all these fancy expensive clothes, we mostly relied on our grandfathers to give us their shoes, our grandmothers to give us their shirts and that's how this became a lifestyle for us.

Q – So it is not based on having class?

A – No! For me when we started the movement, some people wore colourful shirts while other people wore suites. I have my own fashion sense so I know what looks good on me and that’s looking classy , so with the inspiration from what you see on the internet , is what you see here and they say I am a type of guy that likes suites, there’s no such thing as "I must wear this colourful shirt" , I wear colourful shirts because I sell them but not on my daily basis, you cannot wear that each and every day. It gets to a point where it doesn't look pleasant anymore.

Q – Are suites also tailored for the young generation?

A – We , as black people , have a history. That history comes from these type of things and this is how they used to dress up.  Whatever people do now or try to wear , things  like sneakers are a copy from the western culture; it is not what our people used to wear in South Africa or even across Africa.

We have our own unique style that we used to wear so now the Modern mode is changing us here and there (fashion wise) and how we live. It comes to a point where even if you are young, let’s say you are done with school and stick to these falling pants, it’s not going to get you a job nor let people take you serious, its unprofessional mostly what we have now is more like places combined and different cultures so we need to look "on point" and classy at the same time. You can’t go to a white person looking for a job with falling pants. Firstly he’s going to look at your appearance and think  "No he’s still a kid, what is he going to tell me?" You have to speak the way you are dressed, when you walk into a place, people need to understand that we need to attend to this guy. Even young people need to dress up; it has to become compulsory to young people in tertiary to start practicing the same thing.

Q – Yes! But our society is taken by the western life, with fashion and the way we see things. So how in your own opinion can help us the community of Tshwane bring back our African style?

A – On the event the main target is the... First of all I will say it’s not just about the youth bringing back the old roots, no! Also the government has the big part to play but the thing is most of the you for example here in Tshwane we don’t have access to the government, they don’t have access.

In Johannesburg people believe in the youth, they can invest in something that they don’t even see potential in but because someone else comes with some papers and connives them that this is how we can do this and that, they give them a chance. But then on the other hand in Tshwane we are not going to sit down and point to the government and say “the government is doing this and that, No!” that’s none of our business, we have to do our part, let us do something they must see and come back to us and so no you doing this, what’s happening? How can we help? How can we support? So even the youth ourselves we have a big part to play. Where by when you look at the fashion show that we are bringing in, what people can expect is not exactly what they see on other run was.

Last time we had a fashion show with a guy from Soweto by the name of Lucky, his collection and brand name is Luck collection. This guy he show cased garments but then his garnets where not just about fashion show, he has a concept like telling a story from Egypt to Ghana, to Nigeria, to Congo, to Tanzania, to Zimbabwe, to Malawi, to Swaziland until the story ended in South Africa. He had garments looking like old days had Asian people in Egypt, the kings, pyramids then he was fighting for freedom and it was all narrated in a sense of fashion and story together.

So what we do is not just inviting different countries to come abroad then we put it there then it’s a fashion show, No!  We trying to give a story to people to show that this is unique and at the same time it’s uniting Africa because if you look in United States of America, this is totally different from what we see on television or fashion shows that people talk about.

Q – So what you are saying is that we need to unite as Africans? 

A – Look at United States of America, how many countries are united there? And look at in Africa, how countries are united here? So we are trying to united us through fashion that’s the only things that’s left, people can connect and come up with something better, in terms of the youth.

Q – So is there a platform for the youth from you guys?

A – Yes there is a platform that is why we are taking two or five designers and models to Botswana to show case at the Botswana fashion festival and also it’s not just about that, rather people come and someone is going to see you perform, SABC will be there it’s also a platform for you, it’s not also just a platform but your chance to expose yourself.

Q – Do we have to stand on our own before we can get help or sponsors?

A – Yes, you are the one with the ideas and you are the one with those goals, it’s not those days if you are so and so person of the high company, we started this show with money from our own pockets to put things together and that attracted sponsors saying how we can help. So if you go to someone and you find that there is not money doesn’t mean you have to sit down start thinking that these people are rejecting me, no it’s how it is. When you have made it on your own that is when you attract other businesses

Writer: Febian Masinga

Editor: Mpilonhle Buthelezi