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 25th 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
big up to my homies Big Things......Goodlook fellas ###SD##
ReplyDeleteThey are too dope.
ReplyDeleteThey are too dope.
ReplyDeleteuuuh uuh yaah, you guys rock, High five, all the best for the future
ReplyDelete