With the uprising of urban street wear and it becoming more mainstream in Lesotho and Maseru being the hub of it all, we have seen a large emergence of local brands in the last couple of years in contrast with say, five years ago. It goes without saying that the support for local brands has since seen a notable growth. Through their general acceptance and movements like the Wear Local Friday, that are synonymous with the growing flare these brands embody.
Shipa Showcase
It was on November 27th, 2020, when Shipa and Wear Local Friday presented the #TsaSummer’20 launch and street meet experience at Café What. Showcasing launched summer collections from the likes of City Kings, Bonono Merchants, Joachim Garments, DOD Nostalgia, No-bodies and Sqo Syndicate. About this first ever showcase with the pop-up store, Katiso Tsoho, owner of Joachim garments said that Shipa brings about a huge recognition and exposure to local brands. “I would definitely recommend other brands to showcase with the store as it helps with improving sales and injects growth in brand audience”.
Street Meet
Street Meet is an initiative birthed by the Wear Local Friday movement, whereby people meet in the streets, hangout and take pictures wearing locally produced brands. Shipa through the Pop-Up, has the same purpose as Street meet, which is to promote local brands. Khojane Lepholisa Ohjay, co-founder of Street Meet said that the question they would always get is “where do we find these?”, and Shipa is always the answer, making the collaboration between Shipa and Street Meet natural.
Art Slam
Art Slam, led forth by art director Lehlohonolo Tlhaole of Proph2|4 curated the traditional art segment and digital art segment, which brought the artist and the audience closer and this assisted in creating a better understanding on the pieces being created. When asked about the turnout of Tsa Summer 2020 art slam, Proph said “it was very interesting and empowering as it opened doors to a wider audience because even people who do not identify as artists took part, which also gave the crowd a chance to share a few giggles. The crowd was very receiving and they insisted it be done more as proof that it was a great success.”
Artist of the Hour
What made the showcase even more special was artist of the hour session by Aura Griffiths, an RnB artist from Maseru, who performed songs from her Ep, titled ‘3AM’ and one song from T.U.R.K’s ‘Blunts and Raps’ EP called ‘CANIKICKIT’. It was Aura’s first musical showcase with Shipa which gave her a chance to reflect on her craft, expose her music and also made new fans. “The reception was relatively warm, given that I am is quiet new to the scene so to speak. “I had an awesome experience and I appreciate all those who came out and showed love” said the RnB singer.
Closing Remarks
Tlhonolofatso Marie, a sales marketing intern at Shipa, said that the summer was a great showcase which managed to fuse fashion, food, music and art in one place and also bring together people of the same calibre. Overall, it was undeniably a jam packed showcase.
