Mnganam is a clothing brand by Zukisani Mrwetyana, who was born in the small village of Ngobozana, near Qobo-Qobo in the Eastern Cape. Currently, Zukisani resides in Cape Town where he runs his daily operations as a growing and renowned clothing brand owner. His response to our matchmaking question about which brand he loves besides his own and why - he replied by saying, “The South African brand that I love is Yaka Denim, their innovative, fresh and stylish approach to denim is beautiful”.
Tell us about the brand, when did you commence with it and what inspired you to even begin with it? “Mnganam is a diverse, authentic & expressive clothing brand based in Cape Town. Founded in the township of Gugulethu, in 2015, the inspiration is drawn from rich South African street culture, incorporating origins of relevancy of cultures into Mnganam Wear. We capture a culture of owning ones dreams, walking and enriching a heritage for a modern South African today”.
Challenges you faced at the beginning? Market: Carving a niche market for the brand was one of the challenges we faced. Choosing to focus on a niche helped us with our business strategy, as we now focus on our best customers first because they understand the brand, potential customers second and the rest of the world last. We have find that it is pointless to listen to all the buzz and no business from the larger market that do not understand the brand”.
Manufacturing :With the constant changes in inflation, it is difficult to keep our prices the same and since there are tons of brands in the market, the customers move on to the cheaper brands when they cannot afford your brand. Outsourcing also meant meeting minimum requirements from the manufacturers and we ended up having large stock that we could not move. Setting up our own production studio meant we can produce garments as per orders rather than just outsource everything. Sitting with large stock gathering dust is something we cannot afford as a small business”.
What makes the MNGANAM clothing brand stand out? “True to the meaning of its name (MNGANAM) - Friendship, Design and Fashion are the fundamental roots of the brand emphasizing high importance of celebrating our diverse cultures as South Africans and that is what makes us stand out. And ours, is a genderless brand”.
Who/which brand would you like to collaborate with and why, if chance was given? “The person we would love to collaborate with is Bongeziwe Mabandla, one of the most culturally significant artists to have developed from South Africa in recent years”.
When you’re not busy pushing the MNGANAM BRAND, what do you do to unwind? “I love hiking with friends, that helps me to unwind and find time to be with people close to me”.