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Tafadzwa Zimoyo Senior Arts Reporter
Local designers have been called to learn from fashion history to come up with new and vibrant ideas.

The call was made by designer Tadiwa Mashiri at his online launch for the designer brand “Soul’d Dreams” which was founded by Mashiri and Anesu Gwatidzo.

In an interview with The Herald Arts, Mashiri said the new brand was Zimbabwean and focuses on fashion and other things within the creative sphere, such as art and product design.

“I believe that as much as Zimbabwe is filled with creative and super talented designers, the one thing that was missing is a common thread within its identity. The goal of our brand is to find that identity through collaboration with other brands, learning from history and being persistent because only as a collective can we really understand where we stand. The brand originated in 2017 during our university days. It came from a need to stand out and create an identity that was uniquely Zimbabwean,” he said.

Mashiri said that the brand was inspired by societal settings.

“I would say that what makes me and the brand unique is the inspiration around me and what influences our designs. As a brand, Soul’d Dreams grabs from a lot of influences. We do not believe that fashion has to be a monolith or look a certain way. I think that understanding makes us somewhat unique. I was inspired to do fashion designing by designers such as Danai Madondo, Virgil Abloh and Kerby Jean Raymond, among others,” he added.

The 23-year-old architectural designer who holds a degree from the Manchester School in the United Kingdom said has dressed some of the local celebrities including styling for musical videos.

“We have worked with Takura and have styled some dancers in his music videos.”

Mashiri said he was now focusing on ways to execute the brand’s new campaign: “A new history”.

“The campaign focuses on re-writing the Zimbabwean narrative by using colonial motifs we are familiar with and presenting them differently through fashion.”