Fashionista inspired by YouTube to find niche
FRANCISTOWN: A 33-year-old fashionista, Baledzi Gwakuba from Nshakashogwe village unleashes her YouTube self-taught creativity of making fashionable and reversible satin bonnets to test the waters in the world of fashion. The mother of three, who is a teacher by profession, told Arts & Culture that she started learning about making satin bonnets on YouTube after hours and on weekends.
Satin bonnets are slowly replacing headscarves as they are in demand and currently making fashion trends.
When she spoke about her work, Gwakuba said her creative satin bonnets, headbands, bunny ears scrunchies are handmade and cannot be found in local shops. The bonnet maker said as part of exploring her sewing and embroidery skills, she bought a sewing machine early this year.
“I just started off by mending some of my torn garments as part of the process. Whilst doing some research I came across an enchanting and educative video about creating bonnets on YouTube,” she added.
She shared that after learning a few tips from YouTube, she then tested the water by selling her products to some few colleagues and relatives. The bonnets and scrunchies were selling like fatcakes as she kept getting orders from everywhere, which broadened her sales.
Just from a single video from YouTube, Gwakuba is already amongst the game changers in the hair, fashion and beauty industry
from self-taught sewing skills. She said her dream is to build a brand for herself, which will be solutions to other women when experiencing bad hair days. Women, girls and all should feel free to wear their hair anyhow they want and with the help of her products, he highlighted.
“Most women can attest to the fact of how frustrating it is to not have the hair accessory to suit and meet one’s needs. My aim is to come up with all sorts and a variety of hair accessories to tickle their fancy and make them
beautiful. Out with the doeks and in with the satin bonnets which are good for one’s hair and have positive benefits,” she added.
Some of the benefits of satin on hair includes acting as a barrier against moisture-absorbing fabrics, prevents breakage and sustains longer lasting hairstyles.
She highlighted that one of her biggest challenges is shortage of materials hence there is no consistency in her productions, which sometimes leads her to fail to meet the demand of her products.