The afterlife of black skin
Spira Tlhankane | Wednesday May 24, 2017 18:00
The man behind Black Skin’s real name was Baemedi Bobeng, who established the label in 2005. After his tragic death in 2012, his long time partner Ernest Sebako took over the brand and pushed it beyond limits.
Sebako told Showbiz that they want to drive it beyond Botswana and reach other southern African countries like Namibia and Zambia.
He said the business was going well and they tried to target tertiary education institutions and Gaborone as a whole. Sebako said after Black died, he took over the whole business to honour his memory and grow the brand.
“Black Skin is not racial, it encourages unity amongst black and white people,” he said. Sebako said their plan is to take over everything from lifestyle to sports. “From wallets, watches, bags and sneakers we want to identify with many things besides t-shirts and jerseys,” he said.
He added that the brand is for people hence the tag line ‘always believe in yourself’. Sebako added that they are currently printing their merchandise in South Africa. “You can’t get this quality anywhere in the country. It is authentic,” he said. He said they want Batswana’s support which is why they do not tamper with quality. Sebako added that they want Batswana to take them up there.
“We don’t want to push ourselves alone, but we intend to grow the industry of fashion design,” he said. He said for now they are selling t-shirts, caps, sweaters, jerseys and body warmers. He said they will be in Khawa this weekend, as they continue to push the brand.
Sebako said he has now engaged three other partners being Albert Setso, Boikobo Semaswe and Johannes Mokwena for the label.