CV / Biography of Bonono Merchants

BONONO MERCHANTS

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LOOK BOOK / CV

Spring I Summer 2018

Bonono Merchants is a clothing/wear stockist inspired deeply by positive approach to timeless trends in fashion and design. Based in Maseru, Lesotho, Bonono Merchants has built its image around the Basotho heritage through its various textile prints and embodies authenticity to African traditions in all its products.

"Lesotho is one of the highest exporters of textiles in Southern Africa. However, all the exported goods are not a property of Basotho firms. Most of the property ownership resides with the Chinese firms.

Our goal with Bonono Merchants is not only to share our culture and stories, but we want to localize textiles and own a certain percentage of the value added exports."

Bonono Merchants, Maseru - Lesotho.

The collection is made from a traditional Sesotho fabric called Seshoeshoe, which is a printed dyed cotton fabric widely used for traditional Basotho clothing. Originally dyed indigo, the fabric is manufactured in a variety of colours and printing designs characterised by intricate geometric patterns. The name Seshoeshoe, is derived from the fabric's association with Lesotho's King Moshoeshoe I. Moshoeshoe I was gifted with the fabric by French missionaries in the 1840s and subsequently popularised it.

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ACCESSORIES

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ACCESSORIES

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CONTACT: MAHADI GRANIER I CEO: KHALALA™ International Business of African Fashion Paris, FRANCE Office: +33 (6) 95 58 88 07 I Email: MGRANIER@khalala.com I WEBSITE: WWW.KHALALA.COM I Skype: khalala.magazine Follow us on : Facebook | Twitter | Instagram I LinkedIn

Bonono Merchants is a Lesotho-based fashion collective started

by Chere Mongangane and Lemohang Mpobane. The two partners came together on one mission, which is to bring revolution in Lesotho. Bonono, which roughly translates to excellent craftsmanship in Sesotho is not only an exercise in flexing good looks but it is also an experiment in decolonisation.

Bonono Merchants has built its image around the Basotho heritage through its various textile prints and embodies authenticity to African traditions in al its products.

On offer, the brand has Seshoeshoe print baseball shirts, clutch bags, print coated sling bags as well as backpacks, safari hats and a few other prominent hat brands in which they have collaborated as a tool for the promotion of African merchandise they pride themselves in.

The focus of Bonono is the Seshoeshoe print that has served as part of the geographical identity for Basotho for many years, and as a result, Bonono aims to propel it even further, not just on the African contient but globally.

"We believe we have a responsibility to our creative space in Lesotho and we really want to build the arts industry to a level where our people will celebrate art in its fullness, from visual arts, dance, poetry, photography, theatre, authentic music and other innovative angles of art. This mission will assit the creative youth to invest more in their art with the assurance that they can sustain themselves through harnessing their passion" Bonono.

BIOGRAPHY: CHERE MONGANGANE

Chere Mongangane is a graduate in BSc. Electronics from the National University of Lesotho and has been working at Econet Telecom Lesotho as a CoreNetwork Engineer since 2011 and has been given an opportunity to study Next Generation Networks at the University of ZTE in China. His passion for arts and crafts has inspired him to start a textile and design business called Bonono Merchants with his partner Lemohang Mpobane. The business was selected amongst the top 6 business ideas at the Vodacom Innovation Park program. Bonono has also displayed at the African Fashiio festival which happens in Malawi. Amongst other projects Chere is involved with is The Nala Project: Community Market which he has founded with other three partners to create a space for all local crafters and artists to have a place where they can display and sell their work on a monthly basis.

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CONTACT: MAHADI GRANIER I CEO: KHALALA™ International Business of African Fashion Paris, FRANCE Office: +33 (6) 95 58 88 07 I Email: MGRANIER@khalala.com I WEBSITE: WWW.KHALALA.COM I Skype: khalala.magazine Follow us on : Facebook | Twitter | Instagram I LinkedIn

ACHIEVEMENTS in 2015, Vodacom Innovation Park in Lesotho (VIP) was launched with the intention of mentoring up-and-coming entrepreneurs. VIP leverages the power of technology and mobile communications to make the entrepreneurs’ businesses more competitive and productive. The entire programme takes a year, with the initial 12 weeks consisting of intensive training sessions of 20 hours per week. The rest of the programme entails one-on-one counselling sessions held on a monthly basis. In that same year, Bonono Merchants was one of the 6 budding enterprises enrolled at the VIP and went on to be awarded R100,000 at the end of the programme. They were one of the three winning entrepreneurs who were chosen on innovation, global solution and the brilliance of ideas.