Qhawe, a hard-wearing Ndebele appellation meaning ‘hero’; is certainly for more reasons, the middle name of a non-too-oblivious steeple-chasing ginormous gifted prospect: Gilmore Khumalo. A creative beast staying with the train of thought, his is an indestructible potential, which is fully sparking craving; sharpening blunting displays in the vogue and filmic industry, in his capacity as a fashion facilitator, curator as well as stylist — who is also visibly having it good as a cinematic coordinator and director.
Up until recently, lifestyle bravura’s own begotten son, blew and shot up with the alias Gilmore Tee; tucked in his — categorically attaining some footing in the cutthroat showbiz cosmos — boots. And this 12-month he has freshly added “author” to his resume, with the publication of I Wear My Culture: Lookbook; a photo collection of 12 unique ethnic groups: 10 from Zimbabwe, plus 2 from the United Kingdom (UK) — also expressively taking the lion’s share with ample élan.
Outwardly depicted by a copious blabbermouth swashbuckling artwork; like an Italian sous-chef book of some sort, at first glance the I Wear My Culture: Lookbook design cover gives the impression of a pastiche of “scrumptious finger licking pizzas” from cuisine icons: pizza Napoletana — well-thought-out as the ancestor of modern pizza, and The Margherita pizza — a symbol of Italian culinary custom.
As luck would have it, it is only after taking a second peek that you notice that the cut out triangular shaped vivid pictures bordering the interior of the crispy brown background lookbook cover — in a circular form; are not the typical countless classic toppings: meats, seafood, vegetables, herbs, and cheeses of a wide array of ingredients that can feature on Italian pizzas.
Albeit this rather rotund imagination of the Capricciosa (topped with ham, mushrooms, artichokes, as well as olives), Pizza Bianca (starved of tomato sauce, habitually topped with cheese, vegetables, or cured meats), and Quattro Stagioni (parted into four sections with mixt toppings representing the four seasons); fact is, gastronomic is a halfway point of ethnicity and panache!
Therewith, correspondingly, to just how Italian fashion — buoyed up by indigenous designers illustrious for blending tradition with novelty, creating garments that radiate sophistication and fine-tuning — is a testament to the European nation’s rich cultural heritage, pioneering spirit, and stanch commitment to craftsmanship; ‘I Wear My Culture’, a fat Zimbabwean research project by Gilmore, would fruitfully intermingle the lustre of folkloric and endurable craze designing!
The industrious diagnosis venture used fad and flick to document the patterned conducts, colours used, motifs, symbols, artifacts and sustainable vogue of peerless tribal groups. Partitioning hooked on the Tonga, Nambya, Shona, Kalanga, Shangani, Ndebele, Xhosa, Sotho, Khoisan, Venda, Irish and Scottish.
The drudgery has had 12 young fashion designers journeying to their designated ancestral groups rural settings; where they learnt about the bunches, in turn using the knowledge gained to make 2 present-day garments apiece, enthused by their findings. 22 contemporary garbs were produced from the undertaking; which took a brighter go, a tad — 2 years today.
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Hitting the canvas thoroughgoing; this day and age, an award-winning 65 minutes documentary videoed by Prosper Kunyetu and Creative Mice Films, as well as an award-winning fashion motion picture directed by Gilmore Tee — are the upshot of this initiative. Greasing the wheels, Zimbabwean historian Phathisa Nyathi and UK Fashion Heritage designer Dorota Stumpf, were pivotal in this research. Aiding with the excavation of a goldmine of information, prior to the young designers going on site for primary research and erecting attires.
Skimming the newly hatched spick-and-span 60 paged ‘I Wear My Culture: Lookbook’, it captures the exclusive stories of the clusters in pictures of the contemporary construed garments of the sundry cultures by the designers. Snapped by globally applauded UK based photographer Valentine Juma (Val Juma) — who, armed with a Nikon Z6ii, travels globally, capturing breathtakingly photography and video footage in diverse locations — the tome elasticities an intuition on the descents of the tribal groups and narratives by the 12 young designers.
A zealous backer for Afro-Futurism, tribal and Afro fantasy aesthetics; Juma would assist in the subsequent phase of the research project. Bossing, with a wealth of experience, having gaudily voiced his story through the lenses in Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, Scotland, England, Canada as well as the Caribbean; archiving the barebones used to create garments and the regalia — the subject — was child’s play!
Leaving stamps behind, in the interior of the places in which they operate; the capturing of the pictures and stories enlisted in the ‘I Wear My Culture: Lookbook’ was a Quislingism that involved galactic connoisseurs, explicitly — models, make-up artists, artisans, resource person(s) as well as creatives. Bravo to British Council and Paper Bag Africa for “irrefutably nodding petite expectations, in lieu of going along with the straw that broke the camel’s back!”
“This book is necessary for archiving, which is a huge part of a research project. We managed to archive through the documentary, fashion film and now through the look book; which has been nothing but a joy to produce! This book is dedicated to the beautiful, warm and dynamic people of the Tonga, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, Sotho, Nambya, Xhosa, Kalanga, Khoisan and Venda groups in Zimbabwe,” Gilmore Tee said.
“Throughout our journey in learning more about each one of you, we were received with so much love. Made family across Zimbabwe. Unlearnt a lot of stereotypes. And above all, I realised how much love you all carry. ‘We are’ because ‘you are’; thank you for opening your homes to us!”
By painting it as “of dapper bloodline outfit combinations”; assuredly, this tap of a chemistry boom cake garment collection, roll out recherche in the red-hot up-to-the-second publication — which I have also fearlessly raved and avowed: “A river slide fashion screamer. Hugged by the earth, it’s made up of quite neat and nice textures…with halo ovum duckies.”
- Grant Moyo is a prolific writer, innovative media personality, entrepreneur and a creative artist who is passionate about using his creative mind for the betterment of society. Follow him on X: @TotemGrant
