“Do not think of this as a fashion show,” Kwesta holds his hands up as though they can halt people’s thoughts. “I repeat,” he continues, “this is not, in any way, a fashion show. This is just me sharing with you, the other step that I’m embarking on.”
In late November, the rapper who was born Senzo Vilakazi gathered a few members of the media into the shop of an Australian brand called Nena and Pasedena to announce that he had started an offshoot of his record label, Raplyf Records.
The new business venture which is simply called Raplyf is a clothing business. At that Mall of Africa shop – which exclusively sells the merchandise – Kwesta debuted a few items including french terry hoodies, leather caps, swimwear, extended and basic t-shirts.
“For me, this has always been a growth thing,” the Ngud hitmaker said. “When I started, I always tried to switch it up and change things up to be beyond just music. That’s why we started Raplyf [Records]. This whole thing is literally called Raplyfand why you don’t see my name on it is because I don’t want it to be about Kwesta.”
Instead, he wants to use the brand as an empowerment tool for aspiring designers. Following this capsule range, Kwesta and his team will be partnering with designers who will be given a whole season to conceptualise and see to fruition under theRaplyf clothing banner.
“We have slowly got to the creation of a platform musically and now, we’re trying to get into this fashion space,” he tells me. “I’ve always felt like music and fashion were tied together by force but they don’t have to be.”
“Why I created a platform called Raplyf was because I decided I didn’t need to co-sign a big artists to say I have done something. I can get an unknown artist and put him there and that will be me doing something.”
“Also with the fashion: I feel like I don’t have to wear the big brands and names to look good. I can get clothes from Tumi Something and still look the part and with that, I have empowered two or three people who have the opportunity to now sell themselves in whatever they do.”
The artist whose geometric lion symbol has become an omnipresent symbol attached to the hip hop game was one of the first artists to religiously wear Butan Wear years ago. Naturally, Butan’s CEO, Julian Kubel, was one of the people Kwesta reached out to when he decided to get into the clothing business.
“Julian from Butan helped come up with most of the things in this current range,” Kwesta shares. “There was a guy who isn’t in fashion called Sandile who sparked the idea of this range with me. I then asked Julian about how to make these clothes and Jules was more than willing to open up and tell me about his distribution channels and manufacturing. We decided to use that but with the vision to let guys who actually want to design to be involved in future.”
Kwesta has signed a deal with Brand Agency which distributes many international streetwear brands. This means his Raplyfclothing will be available in stores like Nena and Pasadena and more around the country and eventually, around the world.
Raplyf clothing is available at Nena and Pasadena at Mall of Africa in Gauteng