Among the fabric shops on Cameroon Street, leading towards Mbare, you will find dozens of tailors and seamstresses making affordable clothing for the local market, as well as producing garments at higher price points. This southern high-density suburb of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare might not be glamorous, but like many working class areas the world over, it’s a hive of activity and creativity.

Opposite the fabric sellers and hum of sewing machines on Cameroon Street are small stalls occupied by various makers: some selling hand made leather goods, others jewellery, and many repurposing used tires to make new sandals. By the time the street gives way to open space, the commercial activity sits alongside a vibrant but run down residential neighbourhood with entire buildings covered with street art from local talent.

On tables and mats on the ground, clothes for men, women and children, made just metres away, jostle for space with customised secondhand clothing and imported counterfeits of brands such as Nike, Vans and Converse. It’s here that you’ll also find Mupedzanhamo, translated as “the place where all financial problems end” in the Shona language, the sprawling secondhand market where you can buy anything from wedding dresses to cowboy boots, and even prayer bowls if your mind is on something other than clothing.

Mbare couldn’t be further away from the vast homes, boutiques and lush tropical trees of the low density suburbs in the north of the city that one might be more inclined to go to looking for fashion. Despite this, it has an economy running into millions of USD. Customers from more affluent parts of the city still go there to thrift and it is a serious competitor to the homegrown fashion scene. It is an efficient clothing ecosystem, full of clever and effective uses of waste that caters effectively to its market. For these reasons, it is essential to consider the creative energy and commercial ecosystem here to really understand the Zimbabwean fashion industry, its needs, and how it can be grown sustainably.

As much as the last decade has seen increasing eyes on African fashion, of the 54 countries that make up the continent, attention has broadly been on only a handful. Nigeria and South Africa for design, evidenced by Kenneth Ize and Thebe Magugu being shortlisted for the 2019 LVMH prize, or countries such as Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Mauritius for sourcing and production. Despite its high quality local cotton, Zimbabwe is largely left out of the fashion conversation. Designers and imagemakers in Harare are therefore taking it upon themselves to do the slow work of capacity building required for a stable and competitive industry.

Fashion here, like everywhere else, is not just about clothes. It’s about culture, values, economics and systems that effect taste, receptiveness to creative risk taking and spending power. For Fashion Futures, I spoke to artisans, designers and images makers about their approaches towards building a more robust industry that can be competitive locally and begin to expand internationally.

Artisan/designer Erick Gomanyunda, trained first in jewellery making by his father, has cultivated a following by building on the country’s cultural staple of Tonga baskets for the fashion market. Combining baskets, sourced from women’s cooperatives in Mashingo, with leather and beadwork, Gomanyunda’s focus is on elevating the familiar. In describing his approach he says, “I would like to keep our cultural signature in my clothing so it doesn’t die and we can move it forward.” This impulse to maintain the connection to the familiar while elevating it is echoed by others.

Richard Sabawo, founder and designer of streetwear brand Nehanda & Co, named after Mbuya Nehanda, one of the most important figures in the liberation struggle, says: “In Zimbabwe, we haven’t had time to acknowledge the stuff we have around us.” Unlike some other countries on the continent that have traditional clothing and textiles incorporated into everyday and occasional wear, Zimbabwe has tended towards western clothing, a result of ideas attached to respectability pre-independence. Here, the ‘traditional’, particularly in the Shona dominated parts of the country, is relegated to the realm of cultural performance rather than fashion.

It can be hard for many to know what traditional or local Zimbabwean fashion means and creatives often rely on kitenge fabrics or styles that are broadly African rather specifically Zimbabwean. Sabawo’s approach is to mix African prints with more abstract printed fabrics and hand painted limited pieces as part of his “liberated aesthetic”. His aim is to create a brand with an appeal and influence that is broadly African but with a spirit and ethos that speaks to Zimbabwean cultural concerns in particular.

Similarly, Tadiwa Sakrombe and Anesu Gwatidzo, the young duo behind Sould Dreams, use the tag line ‘Back your map’ for their streetwear brand. They use imagery, such as printed maps of Zimbabwe on denims, as an opportunity to promote their peers, assert the concerns of their generation and claim regional pride. As well as co-founding Sould Dreams, Sakrombe is the founder of Domane, a graphic design and content production company that similarly addresses Gen Xers. In describing the tensions between the youth and older generations, Gwatidzo states: “I think it’s about getting to the point where we can get elders to understand what the younger generation is trying to create. Right now we can create the product but because of the way some things are structured, you lose faith in where things will end up.”

Sakrombe concurs. “Our elders should give power over to us. They should be there to guide us but they should know that they need to make room for us in the industry so that we can actually make some decisions,” he says. “The reason that the industry is not growing is that the same people are putting their friends on, and they don’t expand. If you don’t expand, you’re not creating a culture.” To combat some of this insularity, she set up ABC Art Movement, a website that accepts and shares submissions from young creatives across Zimbabwe, as well as from Nigeria and Ethiopia, thereby allowing those who may not be seen on their own platform to get some traction.

Another young photographer, Kudakwashe Chakwanda, states the importance of these self-built support systems. “Creatives can be shy, because what they’re trying to do is not appreciated by the powers that be. They don’t think it’s a real commodity and because of that there is not investment. So we have to get together and do it ourselves.”

The importance of community building over protectionism and pushing towards a developing a national brand that could then be exported comes up time and time again. “If we really want to get fashion moving, designers need to unite,” says Sabawo. For Cheryl Nyasha, the founder of women’s brand Natai Natai, teamwork is the best way to get past the country’s economic issues, which can make the practicalities of sourcing and production particularly difficult. “I’ve learned that the key is collaborating with people. We can get together to make art, and that doesn’t need to be affected by the cash crisis,” she asserts.

Nyasha’s approach to brand building is pragmatic and people first. Rather than creating a large collection, she focuses on a few pieces, such as jersey dresses, with a broad size range. Working closely with photographer Takudzwa Mboma, she creates inclusive imagery that is representative of different types of women. “The more we have creative people, the better it is for everyone who is part of the community. I’m willing to work with anybody who is willing to work with me,” Mboma says. “I don’t think there is anyone who is stingy about working with anyone else here in Harare.”

With young creatives coming together to push each other forward, they have committed to forming a fashion ecosystem that is both a relay and a marathon. The point is not to grow alone or as quickly as possible, but to grow brands and practices that can build into a broader Zimbabwe brand that can last.

Read the Fashion Futures report on the UK here
Read the Fashion Futures report on the Malawi here
Read the Fashion Futures report on Namibia here
Read an overview of the Fashion Futures project in association with the British Council, Chenesai and Nataal

Words Adjoa Armah

Visit Soul’d Dreams
Visit Nehanda and Co
Visit Natai Natai
Visit Kudakwashe Chakwanda
Visit ABC Art Movement

Visit British Council Southern African Arts
Visit Chenesai

Published on 13/11/2019