In a market like Zimbabwe where the clothing industry is hemorrhaging from the influx of clothes bales where pieces of clothing can retail for as low as a dollar, One might want to ask how a fashion entrepreneur can make inroads into such an aggressive market.
Bakari Sibanda is one such entrepreneur, the founder of an African print-focused clothing brand called ByBakari that produces trendy-looking threads from a material that is commonly associated with the opposite of trendy.
How do you start a fashion brand?
Bakari was actually not a fan of African print, not because of its design but because of what it is associated with. African print is considered to be an attire worn by the older folk, for cultural functions and in some instances has a negative connotation when a couple is seen in matching outfits of African print. The assumption is the man in the relationship is wearing the outfit under duress. Such reasons were enough to deter Bakari from African print. So how then does one come from detesting it to building a brand solely off of it?
A persistent friend of his who was in the business of selling African print convinced him to take a look at some of the pieces in his collection. There is one that caught Bakari’s eye and out of it came an outfit that fulfilled his unique taste. This was his outfit of choice for an event he was invited to and the appeal it had received an overwhelming response from the guests at the event. The rest was history.
Classic trial and error
Once business starts getting traction, it is natural for most to want to build a physical presence. It’s somewhat of a crowning achievement and a confirmation to the founder that their hustle is now a legitimate business. And in a market like Zimbabwe where shoppers prefer seeing the product in person, this was the way to go. But soon Bakari came to the realization that the foot traffic he was getting paled in comparison to the traffic he was getting from social media. Leading him to close down the shop and invest just US$60 per month in ad revenue on Instagram.
75% of #byBakari’s business comes from social media and the cost of acquisition here is much lower compared to a physical store. This prompted Bakari to switch to selling and promoting his products on social media and it is a model that is working to date. Deliveries within the borders of Zimbabwe are reasonable enough for Bakari to just courier the products to the customer. It worked out to be a more economical and convenient approach.
The economics around the business
The quality and design pattern that Bakari has a taste for is primarily sourced from Zambia, a neighboring country to Zimbabwe. There are some logistical challenges and costs associated with sourcing materials from across the border. There is a scout that looks for the materials in Zambia, the costs of shipping the materials here, and the associated import tax. There is a fine balance needed to manage the logistics to keep costs at a minimum.
For pieces above 4, ZIMRA charges a 20% tax. This is a cost Bakari has to factor in ontop of the cost of the material and payment for hit partner sourcing it from Zambia as well as the associated transport fees.
Once the materials are in the shop, there are labor costs, utilities, rentals for the base of operations, consumables like threads, buttons, and zippers, and capital expenditure on the equipment itself to turn the vibrant-looking fabric into trendy and modern pieces of fashion. In scenarios where Bakari has been adventurous in their designs, too adventurous for their own sewing equipment, they have had to outsource their tailoring.
All this then feeds into the pricing of their products, It’s not cheap when compared to the items of clothing picked up from bales but what you are buying here is the creative expression of authenticity in fashion. Something that when you wear it is distinct and unique.
Creative partnerships and investors
Creative partnerships are ways in which 2 brands can expand their portfolios through collaboration and exchange of skills and expertise. The best aspects of one brand merged with the best aspects of another to produce even more desirable products. It’s a win-win, especially with small and upcoming brands that can benefit from increasing their footprint. It does come with its fair share of risks seeing it involves sharing trade secrets with your direct competition.
In one instance, a prospective collaborator approached Bakari with the proposal of running a creative partnership. They met up and shared branding strategies and ideas and everything seemingly went well. However just a week down the line, This collaborator was spotted on Twitter marketing products that shared the exact creative design language as #byBakari’s.
Investment is another avenue a small and upcoming business can recapitalize and grow its operations. Quite a number of parties have shown an interest in investing in #byBakari however Bakari is not too keen on losing ownership and more crucially creative freedom of his brand. Something that is always a big point of discussion with any investor. However, he says he is not totally dismissing the idea but will be quite selective with the type of investor. He is currently in talks with one.
