Fashion & Fabulous

Fashion abulous

A Pair of Shoes “ That Went A long way.

In 2016 I was into buying and selling ladies shoes. There was this particular pair of shoes, burgundy and black ombre, that was a bit pricey and most of my clients found it expensive so I kept it. During the same era, my passion for fashion was beginning to rage and I was beginning to look for aspirations in the Fashion Industry. I had one specific lady I looked up to for inspiration. Her vibrance, passion and style were completely inspiring. Her name is HollywoodLee.

One day, I went on a movie and series search and found myself in a small backyard “movie shop”. As soon as I entered, I saw a familiar face, an inspirational face, a vibrant face, The fashionista. I am sure you already know who it was. I screamed on top of my voice “Hollywoodlee!” and she instantly looked at me with a little embarrassment. She was surely not expecting to meet anyone from social media that day especially in that place. I was so excited and try guessing what I earned that day? Haha A ‘follow-back’ on instagram, yes! to me that was gold. I sent her a message as soon as I got home and I began with the most awkward question you could ever ask a lady, ‘shoe size’. Thank God she was not offended, and by coincidence, she could fit into the pricey shoe I had kept from my business. I went to her workplace the following day and gave her the pair of heels and that’s when everything began. This simple gesture marked the genesis of my brand. In 2019, I decided to take my fashion calling to a different level. I had walked in the streets for years and many countless random people would stop to compliment my sense of style. I felt that it was my calling and my purpose of existence to venture into the Fashion Industry. I decided to host the first ever informative fashion gathering in the country under the name Friday Fashion Fete. Unfortunately, I was a new face on the fashion scene, I knew just a little but I was with overflowing passion. Guess who I called first for support? Hollywoodlee! How could she say no after I had surrendered the expensive ombre pair of heels? On the event I saw faces that I had never met, faces whose names I heard about or could have seen their hugely followed accounts on social media. Only to mention a few, there was Lorraine Taylor (Maisondustyle), Trish Carmen, Maxine Adams (HeartofHadassah), Temdai Hunda, MissBecky, Angelica Hood, TarryMk, Tafadzwa Zimoyo, Tembani Mubochwa and many other faces. If it was soccer, that would have been my debut game. I received so much love and support though an electrical fault ruined the event which we ended up having in the dark. lol.

All this could have not happened if it was not the connection I had created with Lee Madyara (Hollywoodlee).

Every event, every idea every gap, every spot that I ended up taking, including the BossBabe Summit that happened earlier on this year hosted by DrRu, was as a result of the goodwill of the person I had looked up to. I guess as the bible says ‘Deep calleth unto deep’, she would push for my name because definitely you couldn’t ignore the passion I have for fashion. The moral of this story is to basically urge everyone to pull someone up. The future even looks more exciting, and the reason why this article exists is because I would like to give credit to someone, acknowledge that I did not become who I am by myself, there was a helping and a pulling-up hand. It’s also for you to realize that in whatever you want to achieve, look up to someone and seek people who will help you become who you The existing Image Consultant, Stylist and Brand Manager who now featured in this magazine is a result of the of people. Through the support, I established the brand ‘Minister of Whitelinen’ that has managed to initiate a couple of movements including the famous DandyGentlemen Flashmobs (where we parade well dressed as men in public areas. We go to business centers, have lunch, interact and motivate each other. Parallel to this movement is also the VogueLadies and these exist for the purpose of cultivating a fashion consciousness in our community, to show the world that we Zimbabwean can do it too, to create a platform where fashion brand can interact and market themselves. It’s to get motivated by other prominent people in our community that cater for both the exterior and interior of the African fashion lover. As a brand we did manage to host 3 DandyGentlemen events this year, the first being in Harare, then Bulawayo and the recent one was in Harare again. We hosted the #WeLiftBlackMen mini-gathering powered by Ms. IvyMcGregor, a global influencer and social impact leader from the United States. The mini event was an initiative that Ms. Ivy started in the U.S after the death of George Floyd and was extended into Zimbabwe in collaboration between the DandyGentlemen, being the first convening of blackmen in the movement. As a brand, we now work closely with and are now part of the IvyincSoarers Community and we exist to change the narrative.

In conclusion, the amazing #WeLiftBlackMen gathering we successfully hosted, could have not happened if I had not participated in the BossbabeSummit where Ms. Ivy spoke. Hence, I called this article ‘The pair of shoes that went a long way’ 21

A Man Of Vision