ROLLING WITH BIG THINGS CLOTHING

I am all about being inspired to inspire. I have stated on my intro that this blog is dedicated to Victoria Falls but not limited to my town. For those that do not know, Wesley Tafadzwa Chimuti aka Tank is from Bulawayo and he is an up and coming fashion designer, trendsetter, and businessman. You might know him from the label Big Things Clothing, if you don’t where have you been? I have known Tank for over a year now and this young man intrigues me still. He has an amazing drive and passion. I sent him an email of the questions and scored myself my very first online interview.

 This is definitely an inspiring piece, enjoy….

GC:> GEORGE CHIGARU (MYSELF)

WTC:> WESLEY TANK CHIMUTI

GC: SO FINALLY I GET THE CHANCE TO INTERVIEW THE BIG TANK, LOL, HOW’S IT BRO?

WTC: Lol, you say finally like I never wanted an interview. I’m good buddy, thanks for the interview.

GC: PLEASURE IS ALL MINE.

GC: FIRST THINGS FIRST, WHAT IS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE NAME AND THE LABEL ITSELF?

WTC: The name pretty much says it all. “Big Things Clothing” is all about the person who wants to do it big in all aspects of their lives. We are basically saying that if you can dream it, you can achieve it and why aim small when you have the potential to do it Godzilla big. Inspiration is all around us man we just convey it through art and since we all can’t all be in the art galleries exhibiting paintings; Gaylord suggested we start a label specializing in T-Shirts at first. Over time we got more creative and decided clothing as a whole looked like a pretty good idea. Big Things Clothing was born!

GC: OK YOU SAY WE, I KNOW YOU DON’T ROLL SOLO BUT FOR THOSE THAT DO NOT KNOW PLEASE SHARE, WHO ELSE IS BEHIND ALL THE HARD WORK AND HOW YALL SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITIES?

WTC: True, I was blessed with two hard working business partners; Gaylord T. Mashoko (Gallardo) and Micah N. R. Kuture (Even Bigger Jay). We’ve been best friends for as long as we can all remember, why not make more memories together and run a business? Gaylord is our General Manager and Micah is our Marketing Director. Along with me, we are Big Things Clothing. I’m Creative Director of the company, all creative work i.e prints and embroidery and the designing of the clothes is my responsibility. I thrive to see how best we can utilize my creativity to sustain the company, push the brand and ensure its growth. Gaylord is responsible for the day to day running of the business. This includes the financial side of the Big Things Clothing business, establishing new contacts and maintaining good working relationships with our suppliers. Micah does our market research, monitors market trends, fashion trends in urban street apparel, how best we can penetrate new markets and designing all marketing media for the company. This kid is the mouthpiece, the eyes and ears of Big Things Clothing.

GC: YOU ARE KNOWN FOR THE BIG THINGS TEES THAT ARE THE ENTIRE CRAZE AROUND TOWN AND I BELIEVE BEYOND AS WELL, WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IS WHY TEES THOUGH? HOW DID THE CONCEPT COMING COME ABOUT?

WTC: Tees were an easier way to break into the market, we couldn’t go all out and do complete outfits before anyone knew who we were or what we were putting out to them. Once a little buzz was going, we did ladies tank tops, ladies and gents’ golf tees and even a phone customizing promotion with Bling My Phone. We are growing though in terms of quality, style, durability and the product range as a whole and we aim to get better each time. 

GC: HOW WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU MADE YOUR FIRST PRODUCT AND OBVIOUSLY THE FIRST SALE?

WTC: Personally, I was ecstatic given we do our sales by order since we have not secured an outlet as yet. To have people react positively to the tees was a blessing; our baby was taking its first steps. From there we pushed to get Bulawayo on our side now most young corporates look forward to our new stuff every end of the month so I’m pretty happy with how this is going but I am not content as yet. There are whole other markets to break into and thus I have broadened my creativity to cater to everyone. To bump into someone I don’t know wearing my designs, a feeling like no other.

GC: OK, I KNOW YOU GUYS HAVE RECENTLY STARTED BRANCHING INTO OTHER ASPECTS OF DESIGN, LIKE A LIL DENIM, TELL ME ABOUT THAT?

WTC: It was a daunting task given that this would be the first time ever designing an outfit outside of my comfort zone, I was a little shaken. Launching a denim range and the T-Shirt Hoody for ladies was quite the challenge but I was inspired when we caught the attention of Harare based, Top Model Agency boss, Karin Davidson. The perfect platform to launch these ideas along with most of our previous ideas came on the 25^th of August 2012 at Arcadia Community Centre where we were part of a charity event aptly dubbed “Fashion With A Purpose.” The designs were well received, the Arcadia community, the city of Harare and the Bulawayo residents that were at the event welcomed Big Things Clothing with open arms. I could not ask for more!

GC: WOW THAT IS BIG THINGS YEAH, LOL, TELL ME ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE, HOW DID THE OPPORTUNITY COME ABOUT?

WTC: That was a phenomenal experience man. I definitely want to do that again! It was all bright lights, glitz and glam, Top Model Agency models tearing up the runway, scintillating performances from rapper Jack Pott, the multi talented Miss Sinead Hollom (Dakhari Drew), dancers; Timikha and Sharlinda, a whole lot of divas and of course us, the bad boys of the fashion industry to top it off, lol. The opportunity came when Micah shared a forthcoming design that was aimed at putting our beautiful the country out there. It caught Top Model Agency’s, Karin Davidson’s eye along with a lot of other excited customers and she spread the word to others in the fashion industry in Harare. Talks of a possible first appearance on the runway came about and just like that we got our invite.

GC: ANY PLANS OF GOING BIGGER AND BROADER?

WTC: The products are only going to get better, the range a whole lot wider and more exclusive. Sales wise, our sights are on penetrating the Harare market and branching off from there into Gweru, Victoria Falls, Mutare and Masvingo. The fashion show generated quite a bit of interest as far as Johannesburg, Cape Town, Gaborone, The United Kingdom, Germany and Australia so we’ve got a lot of planning and work to do. Right now I feel like we have bridged tribal and racial gaps by providing something everyone could relate to, apparel for the streets. I feel the moment we can compete on a global scale and start exporting, we have achieved our goal. Zimbabwe will be on the map for something other than its wonderful tourist attractions.

GC: AND ZIM FASHION WEEK?

I hope next year we can make it to Zim Fashion Week, which was a week after “Fashion With A Purpose” this year and honestly we were not ready. We definitely would want to see our designs at that level and next year this time, we would have grown enough to play with the big boys.

GC: CONSIDERING HOW YOU HAVE COME, I AM SURE IT WILL HAPPEN.

WTC: Thanks mate.

GC: SO HOW’S A TYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE OF TANK AND THE DESIGN PROCESS?

WTC: A typical day in my life is as soon as i wake up, i have my breakfast and I’m out of the shower, I’m in my office in Woodlands drawing, NONE STOP! You don’t have to remind me or tell me, it’s wired to my brain and my body is already programmed to do that. Only coming out briefly to eat and breathe a little. I also play a whole lot of music during the whole idea generation process. Different genres evoke different feelings which translate to different ideas on paper so I can design anything from something a toddler would wear to something a Goth would wear. I’m not bound by anything when it comes to creativity!

 GC: IT HAS BEEN AN ABSOLUTE PLEASURE TALKING TO YOU TANK, ANY LAST WORDS TO THE READERS AND PEOPLE ASPIRING TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW?

WTC: The pleasure is all mine. To everyone that took the time to read this, THANK YOU! I believe all great things started with a dream or a vision of something. We all have potential, what makes the difference is what we do to harness that potential and make the dream a reality. I am yet to reach my peak as an individual but as I grow, my company grows with me. Don’t give up just because someone says, “you can’t do it.” Our slogan at Big Things Clothing is: Wear your thoughts. My dream is a reality now worn by hundreds of people. I hope the youth will be inspired by me and my partners’ struggle to do things how we do: Go hard or go home! ONE LOVE…

GC: AND JUST BEFORE WE WRAP UP, FOR THE READERS THAT MAY WANT TO ORDER SOME BIG THINGS GEAR WHICH I AM SURE IS GOING TO BE THE CASE, HOW DO THEY REACH YOU?

WTC: You can place an order on our Facebook page, Big Things Clothing, like it, our Twitter Page @bigthingsclt, follow us, we follow back or e-mail us on bigthingsclothing@gmail.com. Website is coming, soon so look out for that and our contact details are +263 772 750 267 and +263 779 799 028.

GC: THANKS A TON BRO, ALL THE BEST FOR THE FUTURE AND REMEMBER US WHEN YOU UP THERE BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE YOU ARE HEADED.

WTC: Thank you George and don’t worry there is always room for family at the top, PEACE

The end.

If that did not inspire you, I don’t know what else will. Big Things Clothing is going places and is the next big thing. Mark my words. If he can, so can you!!!!!

I am that boy, who are you o_O