OKAVANGO GEAR FOR SAFARI LOVERS
Director of Okavango Gear, Ona Ranyere describes Botswana as a number one tourist destination, and says their safari clothing compliments this gesture. She reckons that safari is a lifestyle in Botswana hence they had to come up with a unique design and proper outfits for safari lovers.
With her qualification of BA in Multimedia, obtained from RMIT University in Australia, she says making designs for their brand is much easier and she is content that their creativity is of international standard.
“Okavango Gear is an authentic clothing and accessories brand that incorporates elements of safari outdoor adventures, Botswana culture and modern lifestyle to create unique designs. This clothing line is inspired by the magnificent Okavango Delta,” she explains. She adds that it is actually her love for outdoors and safari that influenced this brand.
For this reason, she activated her creativity mode and made several logos as she wanted to print something that represents Botswana, and Okavango won her heart.
“I decided to print Okavango on my t- shirt, and within the blink of an eye my family members had them too, as they appreciated the printout. I made different designs for them and people out there saw them and wanted to own one too. That was the birth of this clothing line,” she says, highlighting that she had to register the trademark with CIPA immediately. Her merchandise include: t- shirts, vests and caps, which she started with, and later on added bucket hats, sweaters and hoodies. Currently, their sweaters and hoodies are highly in demand as people want to show off with them this icy winter season. She tells BG Style that they are overwhelmed with orders, due to the challenges that come with the Covid- 19 pandemic.
“We are presently overwhelmed with orders because of Covid- 19. We can’t access proper manufactures as we want to provide long lasting apparel to our clientele; so sourcing apparel is a bit of a challenge now,” she says.
Ranyere says that sourcing clothing for safari is not easy because most people who see safari as a lifestyle, believe in authenticity and quality. She has to invest more on getting relevant merchandise and also ensure that her designs are top notch.
“Being a multimedia specialist by profession and the fact that part of what I do is graphic design, helps me a lot because I am able to blend ideas and come up with desired merchandise for our clothing line,” she says.
She adds that their brand rings the bell to the international visitors too because Okavango Delta is well known around the world. They are based in Gaborone at Commerce Park and she shares that because of the positive feedback that they receive, they also courier their products to various places outside Gaborone. Their plan is to have it as the most admired safari inspired clothing label. To become a complete safari shopping outlet, Ranyere says they will be adding more products soon, such as bags, wallets, sunglasses, pants, jackets and many other creative products. They will also launch their website soon, to allow people to buy their products online.