Customising denim jackets

Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday February 9, 2018 15:12

 

The Art Handz and Amateki Culture owner started off customising shoes and later caps, something that started off just as an idea to make pocket money. His abilities and skills won the young artist many reliable customers who continued supporting him and that was when he decided to expand his brand by customising jean jackets.

“Jean jackets customising is the art of painting jackets to make them look more attractive and artistic.

Just like shoe painting, I customise both new and old jackets and also use the same materials to customise different items, which are fabric paints, acrylics and a fabric sealer to protect it from washing off.

Jean jacket customising is a very interesting initiative and form of innovation as it allows one’s jacket to transform from ordinary to extra ordinary. It allows people to express themselves through their clothing and way of fashion,” he said confidently.

Boitumelo officially started his art in August 2016. While initially he focused on shoes, his clients started demanding jacket customising. He said they wanted more forms of customised clothing from him. He can infuse different and new ideas or designs such emojis, flowers and lettering.

“My brand as Amateki Culture started this journey. It influenced and gave a positive impact in the local fashion industry. I would like to encourage the youth to be creative and innovative. I am proud to say my customers received my art with open hands. They are more supportive of my business,” he said.

However, he does jackets according to customer’s request. He said it takes him a day to five days to get a jacket done, depending on the chosen design. His charges start from P250 depending on the design.

“There are several steps I take during this process of jean jacket customising. I firstly sketch the desired art into the jacket surface then after I start working on it. When the art is done, I then apply the fabric sealer and thereafter I apply a fixative, which is usually a fabric sealer. My customers can choose from more designs such as cartoons, tribal patterns, mural prints, emojis and galaxy design,” he explained.

The young artist has also hired a brand Ambassador to make his products even more appealing. He is a model and a blogger, Junior Thabang Aabobe, whose page name is Junior T Aabobe.

There are more projects lined up for Amateki Culture brand, a sub-division of Boitumelo’s company ART HANDZ. He said before the winter season, he would be releasing merchandise.

He is also planning on working with a number of artists, mainly photographers and models, such as Enzo Shot-it, Belatore.

“Batswana should stay on the look out by liking my Facebook page ART HANDZ, and my brand Ambassador’s page Junior T Aabobe and also Enzo Shot-it,” he said.