The Dandy Gentlemen

We are here to #ChangeTheNarrative, to say to our fellow ladies and citizens of our community, ‘Zimbabwean Men Can Dress’.

The movement that we started as a brand, Minister of Whitelinen, exists to accommodate and inspire the Zimbabwean. We learnt that, you cannot be, what you cannot see. Probably the reason why we did not so many fashion-conscious men in our community was because there was no motivation and stimulation for the need to be. We are here as the Dandy Gentlemen to be an example to our fellow men that a good look is attainable; it only takes effort. We are here to be what other men can ‘see hoping that by seeing they will also get an urge to ‘be’.

The debut of the movement started right in the City of Harare. We had the presence of Natty the MC, Ben Chest and Tembalami the musician as our guests. I am sure you are wondering what exactly transpires during our flash mobs but let’s get into it. We are constantly gathering men, any men who is willing to come suited and dressed up and we parade ourselves in the busiest places of the town. We walk around to shock and wonder with our mobile DJ to create the hype, photographer and video person to create content. The Harare one was epic with more than 27 men on the streets. We then have the interaction segment whereas fashion lovers we interact, sit down and know each other. Many thanks to ChopChop Zimbabwe for their good pizza during our interaction. We also made a lot noise and create hype in Joina City when we passed and all this ended with a photoshoot ay NSSA building. The Bulawayo edition was even more epic. We had so many sponsors on board, like Sterkinekor, Smoke House, The Vista, Alhpa Mineral Water, FMG, Barcelos and many others. We started our journey at Barcelos going into unique places like The Vista, Bulawayo Centre, the Tower Block and the Market taking pictures and parading our dandiness. We also felt a deep cultural connection with the city as we had a our signature shoot at the Joshua Nkomo statue. This was even more resonating as our theme for the edition was vintage wear. A couple of designers and fashion icos showed up like Welsh The Stylist, Scarless Designs, Ben Chest, Nceku, DrNash,to mention a few. The Bulawayo opened the idea of not neglecting the ‘interior man’ the inner man. We had motivational session with our guest who happen to prominent people in the areas of business and social impact. Mr. Busisa Moyo delivered a great message as well as Arthur Evans. The event close with a fashion show and a party at Smoke House.

The beauty is all this is as much as we are creating a fashion consciousness, we are as well creating unity withing the Zimbabwe fashion industry. This has become a platform where bloggers, fashionistas, designers, models, fashion lovers, fashion brands and stylists interact and learn from each other. It has become the Pitti Uomo of Zimbabwe and it is not stopping.

Our next stop, if it was not for the Covid-19 was going to be Gweru, Mutare then Victoria Falls. One thing we have realized is it is no longer a national movement but a regional movement. We also have come up with a calendar to have the flash mobs done in Malawi, Blantyre and South Africa’s Johannesburg and Capetown. We have our brother Sebastian Mqondisi Ncube as our face in South Africa. The vision is not neglecting the ladies at all, but the brand has managed to established a similar movement under the name Vogue Ladies as @vogue. ladies_zw on Instagram to create the same unity, hype, consciousness and excitement in the fashion industry the same we did with the Dandy Gentlemen. We call out to our fellow Zimbabwean men, brands of all kind to join in, to change the narrative and build the total men together. Our Instagram handle is @dandygentlemen_zw#ZimMenCanDress 28

Nyasha what do you do and what drives you to become the man you are today? I’m a fashion model, a brand ambassador, and musician. I’m driven by a hunger to succeed and to see others around me succeed. There’s no better feeling than seeing your dreams come true and seeing others live their dreams as well. I’m so passionate about life and everything life has to offer, I’m all about pushing myself to be the best in what I do and to set a good example for everyone who looks up to me. People will follow your actions more than your words. I believe life is an adventure worth exploring, hence my everyday motto - die with memories, not dreams. Be adventurous, be spontaneous, be open minded, look for new opportunities, try out new things. Above everything, I trust God and I know my worth. Knowing my worth means that i don’t accept anything less than I deserve. You have to understand that only you can place a value on yourself. Don’t allow anyone to tell you who you are or aren’t, or to tell you what you can or can’t do.

My dream is to inspire everyone who sees me to believe in the power and beauty of their dreams. If your dreams don’t scare you, they probably not big enough, dream bigger, go for the top.

# Nyasha, do you think appearance matters in dealing with people in the community? I certainly think it matters when dealing with people, because people have to have a level of respect for you if they are to listen and understand you, let alone follow you. So, the way you appear to them will have a bearing as to how far you will reach out to them, and not only reach out to them, but actually make an impact on them. People want to know that they can relate and form some sort of relationship with you, so if you appear unrelatable then you aren’t going to deal effectively with any person or community as a whole.

# Mr. Nyasha, there is so much greatness and wisdom within you. What’s your advice to anyone who is aspiring to be like you? My advice to anyone who aspires to be like me is to always maintain a positive attitude and to believe in yourself. A positive attitude will always align you with winners, and when you’re aligned with winners, there’s no way you aren’t going to win.

ursuit of urpose

Born Beyond Limitations

Model : Nyasha Valentine Murandu

Nyasha Valentine I was going to pursue my other Murandu(nyxshx) dream of being a musician which is an introverted I am still pursuing, I'll be releas- extrovert ha-ha. ing some music for you guys this I'm naturally quiet month so be on the lookout for and diffident but I've had to real- that. ly come out of my shell and be a Matter of fact, I didn't even know leader. We are meant to be lions, that modeling is actually a career but the greatest tragedy is that until a friend asked me to try it a lot of lions in this world have out and offered me a short-term sheep mentality, so they busy eat- contract. Boy, did I not fall in ing grass instead of hunting for love with it!! It's like God was just meat. You gotta go out there and saying i know you got your own be the best. visions and dreams, but I got my

I'm born in a small town called own visions and dreams for you

Redcliff, in Kwekwe. But had to too, go on, stretch yourself, be move from one town to the next more, do more!! because of school and life in gen- I've since had the privilege to eral, before eventually leaving the model for Bogart, Markham, Ed- country to further my studies in gars, H&M, The fix, Tom Voyag-

South Africa where I’m currently er, Old Khaki among other top based. brands in the South African fash-

How I became a fashion model is ion industry. actually a funny story in a way be- Be spontaneous, be adventurous, cause i never saw myself as a mod- be open minded, put new things el even though I've always been to the test. You don't have to burn a lover of fashion, more like an inside a house because the one addict, i remember in college I'd door you expected to open did go hungry sometimes coz I spent not open, and you weren't willing all my money on clothes and cool to try opening the 5 other doors shoes(don't do it kids that's irre- right next to it. sponsible). Above everything, pursue God's purpose for your life passionate-

In my mind I was going to play ly. And be willing to keep walk- professional basketball for the ing down that right path. You will

Chicago Bulls in the NBA, hamake progress, GUARANTEED! ha. When that didn't materialize,

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