Linda Malinga, Director and the Brand Stylist of Guzzani Clothing talks to Inside Biz about the brand, popularly known as “The People’s Brand”. The award-winning brand was built with a concept to revolutionize street-wear ‘drip’ by blending-in modern textile designs with military wear compositions. Kick-starting his clothing career back in High School, the youthful fashion guru has now turned Guzzani Clothing into a well-known brand revered for its quality, and has bagged himself some game changing collaborations along the way.
Q: Hi Linda. Can you share a bit about your background and what inspired you to start Guzzani Clothing?
A: Well, my life experience kick started Guzzani Clothing, I recall that it initially started back in High School. We used to have casual Fridays where we would be allowed to wear our casual clothes instead of uniforms but a brother here wasn’t privileged enough to afford different clothes every other week. The only way I figured to combat this predicament was by altering my torn jeans and giving them a different and stylish look.
That’s when my schoolmates started calling me ‘The Fashion Guru’. The torn jeans style, however, became such a hit that most of my peers at school started asking me to alter some of their clothes. The Fashion Guru was the name given to me at school and then my initial brand, Guru Clothing stems from that.
Q: What does the name “Guzzani” signify, how did you come up with it and what sets Guzanni Clothing apart from other fashion labels, particularly in the streetwear genre?
A: The name Guzzani doesn’t really have any specific meaning but it carries a bold statement, let me tell you how I came up with it. Remember the brand was called Guru Clothing right? So a year after it was established, I rebranded from Guru to Guzzani because I wanted to create something that had never existed before. I creatively mixed the first two letters of Guru with the last letters of designer.
The name came out as Gusigner but people were pronouncing it as “Guzzani” and that’s where we earned our slogan “The People’s Brand”, then Guzzani was born. As a brand, service is the most important commodity and is closely followed by quality. When buying from us you are not just buying a garment but investing because it will last you for a couple of seasons. That’s what separates us from other brands.
Q: Whilst you have a distinct style you clearly don’t limit yourself when it comes to the clothing you design. What are some of the best-selling items in your brand’s range?
A: Our dungarees and dungarees dresses are the most popular items, to the point that they were selling even more than the winter range during this winter season. They were closely followed by cargo pants and our signature tracksuits. Our unique kiddies range is also amongst the biggest selling at Guzzani Clothing.
Q: What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced in building Guzzani Clothing into a successful brand?
A: One of the challenges we currently face as a brand, not just the brand alone but the industry at large is the unavailability of quality fabric locally. We are forced to go beyond the border to get fabric and even though there are a few local suppliers, it’s simply not enough. We don’t have a variety and that limits the creative side of us as designers. However, as designers, we are doing our utmost best to tackle this and it’s still a work in progress.
Q: How has being based in Eswatini influenced your designs as well as brand philosophy and what strategies have you used to expand Guzzani Clothing’s reach beyond Eswatini?
A: You know the country’s economy is currently not friendly so it limits us as we are not able to express ourselves the way we would have liked. We cannot produce different collections simultaneously because timali atibonwa. Also, the population here is relatively small so you have to also put that into consideration. As a brand, we are engaging other retail stores in neighboring countries to have our merchandise there.
Q: You were linked with an amazing deal to produce football kit replicas for Moneni Pirates Football Club. How did that come about and what eventually happened to the deal?
A: The team loved our craft and approached us for a deal but please can I not elaborate further about that for now.
Q: Okay. Moving on, how do you see the fashion industry evolving, particularly in Eswatini, within the street-wear fashion niche market?
A: I think the industry is growing massively. Over the recent years, we have seen more clothing brands emerging and doing well. They are also serving quality wear but there is still room for improvement. A few years back people had negative reviews about local brands in terms of quality, aesthetics, and brand distinction, but now that’s a thing of the past. All we have to do now is to find a way on how we can penetrate the international market by exporting our products to other countries.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring fashion designers looking to start their own brands?
A: I would advise every aspiring fashion designer to start now. They should start small, the biggest capital asset to start with is not the small money in their hands but the big money in their heads. You need to start from where you are and follow how other designers who came before you have made it, to draw inspiration.
Q: Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in building Guzzani Clothing?
A: I think I have done fairly well considering that I don’t have formal training, nor did I have any previous experience of designing and running a clothing brand. Building trust among my clientele was the best thing we did to solidify the brand, and now we have the best customers in the world. We may not be where we want to be at the moment, but we are not where we were before and that’s satisfying. That’s growth.
Q: What are your future plans and goals for Guzzani Clothing and can you give us a hint about any upcoming collections or collaborations?
A: We have a 3-year goal which is to have retail stores around the country and use these to create job opportunities for emaSwati. Then from there, we will be looking for further opportunities around the SADC region. We want to export to other African countries and eventually, to Europe.
As we slowly approach summer, one can look out for our new collection which I think will be dropping towards the end of August. We will have different classics for everyone who loves and appreciates a good look.
Q: Where can one get Guzzani clothing and also see updates on the latest releases?
A: People can reach out to us through our online platforms:
Facebook: Guzzani Clothing
Instagram: @guzzaniclothing.int
Email: guzzaniclothiers2012:@gmail.com
Call/WhatsApp: 76607244