Raised by a “seamstress and a fashion-crazed grandmother”, Mzukisi Mbane might be studying accountancy but he is also a creative with his own fashion range.
The 23-year-old from Khayalitsha, Cape Town, has been recognised by fellow entrepreneurs Lebo Gunguluza and Citrum Khumalo – judges in Hansa’s Special Ingredient Search – as someone who has the potential to go the distance.
On Saturday, Mbane was one of 30 finalists in the Western Cape who received mentoring and training from the pair, before pitching his business idea to grow his fashion label, called Swagger Diariez. His emotional mother Ethel was present at the awards dinner to witness her son receive business funding of R50 000 from Hansa marketing manager Kelebogile Mashigo.
Swagger Diariez started in March last year, after Mbane decided to follow his passion for fashion and turn it into a business.
“Fashion has always really interested me, so I decided to follow my dream and teach myself the business”. Learning “all the technical work” from his mother, Mbane began to sew and make his own clothes for his range, which he describes as being a “lifestyle brand” rather than a fashion retailer. He describes his clothing as “very modern, colorful, fresh, ready-to-wear unique designs with a street-style edge”.
Mbane’s major priority now is to expand the business and he plans to use the money to relocate his work area out of his house and into a newly-built studio, thanks to Hansa.
“The major thing now is to have my own studio for designing and making my clothes”, he said. “There is space in the back garden to build my own working area, which I can dedicate to Swagger Diariez”.
Mbane also hopes that a new fashion studio will allow him to work with other designers to expand his brand by ultimately “connecting the South African youth” through his designs.
