Substantial brands form an alliance

By Seleoe Nonyane

Excitement is at its peak for Lesotho Fashion Week (LSFW) and Sothokids Culture Agency as they announced the brand’s recent union.

The partnership of these two popular brands saw the light of day on May 1 2022 when they launched their first campaign dubbed “Kopano ke Matla”. The campaign will run for a year period of a year ending April 30 2022.

LSFW is a business to business marketing platform for fashion in footwear items and jewellery. It is a fashion platform that leads way with initiatives that support, strengthen and develop the textile and apparel industry in Lesotho.

The Sothokids Culture Agency is a platform that gives models and artists an opportunity to showcase their talents while helping them thrive. The brand also aims at promoting Basotho culture.

In an interview with this tabloid, founder and director of Sothokids Culture Agency Khosi Khebez, said with this campaign, they want to show models and fashion designers in Lesotho that “if they want to go faster, they must go alone, however, if they want to go further, they must go together.”

He said that the “Kopano ke Matla” campaign is aimed at talking about the importance of collaborations as a powerful tool in order to revitalize and grow the Lesotho fashion industry amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s an undisputed fact that the pandemic has hit the Lesotho fashion industry harder. Majority of the country’s local fashion designers either had to permanently shut down their businesses or if they continued operating, they were unable to make any income. The fashion industry in Lesotho is one of the worst affected groups in terms of job losses and falling income,” he remarked.

He told the publication that they want to promote the spirit of collaboration in the fashion industry and encourage young people to collaborate and exchange skills.

“There is so much work to do in order to grow this industry. We need to rethink how we work and realize that there is power in unity.

“Unfortunately, many young people put themselves in a precarious position by habitually waiting for the government to fund their projects or to make things better, not realizing that the wait may be futile,” he emphasized.

He revealed that their objective is to remind the youth that relying on government funding is not the solution adding. “We are the solution,”

Khebez said it is their dream to develop and grow Lesotho’s fashion and modeling industry.That dream, he observed. can only be achieved through relying on their own abilities.

When responding to the question about other projects the brands will be working on, he mentioned that the two brands will jointly host six events in 2022.

Moreover, he added that with this partnership they hope to create 1000 jobs in the fashion industry by the end of 2023.

He said LSFW picked Sothokids Culture Agency because it was looking for an un-conventional modeling agency in Lesotho whose mission is to challenge Eurocentric and size-specific ideals of beauty.

“They were looking for an agency that prides itself by promoting Basotho culture, an agency that is inclusive and accepts different types of shapes, height and disabilities. They found all that at Sothokids Culture Agency,” Khebez explained.

He concluded by saying the two brands share a common vision of wanting to take the fashion industry of Lesotho to greater heights and this collaboration will help them reach that goal.