Young But Rich In Mind
Encounter one of the confident youths in Botswana who made it to the fashion industry and are hopeful for the future. Panashe Nyatoro is the face behind Dripped Worldwide, which was established in 2019 as a street wear fashion brand & entertainment company. His main focus was to express emotions and feelings he went through street wear fashion since fashion has been a biggest factor to the hip-hop industry. Panashe said in the interview that his biggest influence was his mom, who is a fashion designer and in every piece she put together was really perfect. He also said that he would admire every piece and wish one day to be putting together the biggest fashion pieces in Botswana and the world.
According to him, as a kid growing up they didn’t have much, they couldn’t afford fancy and glamorous clothing from the world’s biggest brands in the world which made him feel outdated and so backwards but as time went on he started his own clothing line so that he could put his own authenticity and originality in the fashion he wore. He has designed prints on t-shirts from his own phone since he didn’t have enough equipment to use and till now all the designs he has were done on his phone. Panashe taught himself how to design through watching YouTube videos, spending time on Pinterest and learning from other street wear brands. He added that in the process he would draw out ideas of other pieces like Cargo pants and then work with his parents in putting the pieces together.
He said growing up and seeing less of our creatives in Africa, mainly Botswana suffer and not succeed in their businesses has always been one of his biggest fuels in producing quality stuff for the locals and the international market. Therefore he wanted to inspire everyone who will come behind him that if you believe in yourself and study the market you have ventured in, you will always do wonders. He has always strived to bring mind blowing designs that are unique and authentic enough to penetrate the international street wear market and put Botswana on the Atlas.
Being the man behind the motive and also with his partners who helped co-found this legacy, Panashe has Kindreds Nyatoro, Kyle Bunhu and Greneel Nyatoro who are his siblings and who helped him in bringing up this empire.
Quizzed on how the business is doing, Panashe said during the days before Corona, the business was doing well because events such as Chill step, festivals and gatherings influenced the youth to invest in street wear brands as they always wanted to look more different in them and also supporting local brands when they went for these events.
He said now that there are so many restrictions and the economy of the country is also constantly falling, it’s hard for these young people to add on most of the local street wear brands to their carts nonetheless he believes besides fall in sales, Dripped itself has managed to rise above the struggles as he always struggled for perfection and outdoing the designs he has put before.
Asked on who helped him with the sponsorship of his business when it started, Panashe replied by saying “It is Juse Morgan, my best friend who I have never met physically but connected through Instagram, is in America. He loved my music so much he always wanted to help in anything I do as he believed I was very talented to be seen by the world. He sent me money as soon as I told her that it was a struggle to fund my music and also find capital to start my street wear business.
He said the uniqueness and authenticity in his designs differentiate him from other brands and he passionately love everything he’s doing and takes his business as one of the fundamentals to personal growth. Every design he puts out is a sentimental expression of things that influence his life and other people’s life and that on its own has managed to make him always want to bring out the best quality services for his clients. Money has never been the main drive to his success but quality has always been.
His greatest achievement in the fashion business is working with different people around the world, from the corners of America, Canada, Philippines, Spain & more.
“I always incorporate the few people who have supported my business from the beginning to always help me make decisions, choose prices, and also choose designs. Making people feel like they are part of my business has always been the greatest strategy I have used in building a very strong loyal customer base,” so he said. Panashe said that not having enough funds has always been a challenge to the type of business he’s doing, adding that funds act like fuel to a locomotive since he’s not much into profit. He said it’s hard to diversify and execute more strategies that could help the business grow.
Right now Panashe is working as a Financial Advisor and Insurance Agent at Cover Link Insurance Brokers. He said the reason why he chose this job is because it teaches him how much time he needs to put in studying marketing and advertising. It also helps him to grow in the formal world and in marketing and advertising his fashion and music since it mainly deals with marketing skills.
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Duncan Sebeso