INTERVIEW WITH OGS

Hello FMZ Fashionistas,

As always, Fashion Maverickz is committed to exposing you to fresh talent connected to Southern Africa. The beauty of the fashion industry is that it is a vast field in which one can not only be in the forefront but be behind the scenes as well. Today we are profiling a fashion photographer of note. I introduce you to Osse Greca Sinare.

I know him personally from my high school days at Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland and we were in the same class for about two years. He always had flare for fashion and artistic expression back then and it is amazing to see how that has grown into his craft and career. He was recently in South Africa on a tour with OGS studios so Southern Africa remains close to his heart. This is a taste of his journey in different parts of the world over the years and what has inspired him to be where he is today.

Give a brief description of your background and history (such as where you have lived, studied and interests growing up).

I was born in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and spent my younger years in Tanzania, until it was time for High School, which is when I went to study in Mbabane, Swaziland. It was a great experience because of the diversity in nationalities the school had and also by the fact that it had courses such as Art, Music & Drama, courses that are not in the curriculum in government schools in Tanzania (Sadly). My interests have always been in Art and creating since I can remember and it has always been the subject I aced, so being in a school which taught you such subjects motivated me to explore this area more.

What inspired you to do fashion photography specifically and to start OGS Studios?

I actually did a degree in Business Computing specializing in Management, so I wasn't planning to take a career into photography. But while I was doing my Uni studies in Malaysia, I got interested in the art of taking photos and ended up borrowing a camera from a friend to practice. Slowly but surely I fell in love with it. I started experimenting with different types of photography from landscape, still life, photo journalism but I eventually found that I love fashion & portrait photography. I loved it because it is always changing every season, plus the fact of coming up with various concepts and ideas all the time intrigued me.

What has been your greatest achievement to date as a Fashion & Portrait Photographer?

My greatest achievements as a fashion photographer to date are winning, two years in a row, fashion photographer of the year for Swahili Fashion Week 2012/2013.

Describe your personal style.

I have yet to find my own person style in my photography. I love experimenting and trying different styles of taking pictures and editing so it's really hard for me to stick to a particular style, but I hope to find one I can stick to soon. (Hehehehe.)

What direction do you think African fashion is headed at this moment in time?

At the moment there is big boom in the African fashion industry. There are more designers, photographers, make-up artist, models etc. creating their own style and also providing international standard work, which is great. We are at the great time in the fashion industry, I believe with the growth that we are heaving we will soon be a force to reckon with, we have been in the shadows for too long, its time we voice out, express our creativity and shine!

What are your future plans with OGS Studios? 

Future plans for OGS Studios is expanding the studio so that we can cater to various concepts for shoots, start creating workshops so we can teach others, and also move into filming/videography more.

Who would be a dream client?

A dream client for us would be any internationally known fashion magazine like Elle, Vogue, V, etc. We are working hard on improving our work so we can open such doors for our studio. 

That is all we have with Osse for now. We look forward to watching his growth in the fashion industry on a continental and global scale. May his vision for OGS Studios come into fruition. In the meantime, check out his website www.ogsstudios.com to see more of his impressive work.

Warmly,
Khethiwe (repping The FMZ fam)

Sgonian Republik [SR]

   

Hello lovely people. Today we have an innovative self taught brand owner from Swaziland called Sgonia. He is the founder of  the Sgonian Republik [SR] brand that specialises in urban contemporary clothing . I was  quite interested in this brand because of the quality and time taken to develop the SR concept. I can see it being an African Hollistar or Abercrombie & Fitch.  

   

   Let's talk to Sgonia :

     Please introduce yourself?

Otherwise known as Sgonia, I am a 20-something years old Swazi fashion creative, self-taught marketing, branding, brand architecture and management fundi who runs Swaziland’s foremost urban contemporary chic lifestyle clothing brand, SGONIAN REPUBLIK [SR].

     Tell us about your brand?

As slightly hinted on above, SR is an urban contemporary chic lifestyle clothing brand, with a catalogue that strikes a careful balance between his and her made-to-measure-strictly-on-order and ready-to-wear sartorial necessities, from your basic round-neck t-shirt up to that finely cut and tailored dresses and so forth.

     What makes your brand unique?

Besides the inimitable attention to detail we always invest in every garment we tailor, as executed upon some of the finest quality fabrics around by some of Swaziland’s finest fabric artisans, there is that persistent obsession to give all SR connoisseurs [present and prospective] garments they can be proud to own and don every day, an end we always strive to achieve by tailoring clothes that will emphasise and celebrate one’s personality through obviously, what they wear, in quality. This way of doing things is thanks mostly to one of our guiding philosophies; “Dressing the personality, and not not the person.”

 

 What inspired you to start your brand?

It was a balanced love for entrepreneurship and fashion, both seeds planted in me by my Mom, she, through the family’s low-scale enterprises she initiated, taught me most business basics and there planted the lovely seed of entrepreneurship, and then growing up from there, to the fore came the love for fashion, which was sparked mostly by an in-born creativity I believe.

So, in essence fashion proved itself to be the most ideal medium through which I could burn up thise entrepreneurship calories and beyond this, reliably prove itself as thee most ideal means through which I could share my style and fashion opinions with the world through every niceness SR avails to the world.

    

    Which industry icons do you admire and why?

The two Italian gentlemen Giorgio Armani and Brunello Cucinelli, there’s also the great Tom Ford alongside Ralph Lauren and ultimately, Lapo Elkann [a grand-son to the late great Italian industrialist Gianni Agnelli].

The WHY is simply, courtesy of their incomparible mastery of their trades, their levels of artistry as can be seen and properly appreciated through everything they share with the world through each garment they give out, line after line. And with Lapo Elkann, it’s the things he does style-wise, consistently defying convention towards a proper establishment and appreciation of his person brand and his entrepreneurial and corporate accomplishments at his age inspired me since the day I knew there was Lapo Elkann.

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to start their own brand?

Essentially, first define why you want to do it? And for whom do you want to do it? These two premises, answered honestly should form the basis on which you move ahead to produce and retail whatever you want to retail through the brand you want to start.

Once you have started that brand, ask yourself, how your brand is going to be different from all those in the market? And how you are going to achieve that distinction? As you proceed to produce, do not produce stuff you saw in another brand’s line, always remember that a brand is like an individual, hence a need for distinct distinction in it and all the rudiments and nuances that define it, down to the smallest detail.

Then from there, but importantly do not compete with anyone in the industry, unless it’s again yourself towards beating your previous best. Follow your guts, shut your ears to the voices of the detractors, or better yet, let whatever negatives fired your hustle’s way fuel your hustles, because, honestly, sometimes our environments and those around our hustle can be too harsh at times.

What inspires your creative processes, like what influences your work, from the conception of whatever idea up to delivery?

 Primarily, my creative processes have always been, so I believe influenced by end-products that'll do their bit in defying convention, sartorial or otherwise. I believe creativity, especially in this trade is about innovation and tailoring garments that will spark a pride in anyone wearing  them, a feat that can only be achieved by tailoring and delivering the different, and not just the ordinary different, but the different that celebrates the individual in their space, and this can only be achieved through a flawless attention to detail in the client and their garment, this drives the creative processes at SR in a major way, always have and always will, gets even better if an order is delivered and received with a smile. This is just almost about it. 

 

Where can our readers buy your stuff?

Currently, SR retails exclusively at Swaziland’s only Swazi brands-only emporium, Cherry-N, as situated at Summer place Shopping Centre, just past Manzini Police Station, Shop#.11, but to those who aren't anywhere near this point, we have the brand’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SGONIANREPUBLIK?fref=ts through which one can also get a visual tour of all our catalogues, through the page we are also always happy to address any inquiries, take orders and all issues SR, these can also be forwarded to sgonia_sr@sgonianrepublik.com. Otherwise, we are in the process of availing an even more comprehensive online medium through which SR stuff can be purchased.

Well I love Sgonia's ideas and I have learned something valuable from this interview. My personal favourite is the tartan dress. I want ^_^. I truly believe we will be hearing and seeing great things from his brand SR.