Prince Tom�s collaboration with KeNo Suits wins him more customers
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday November 2, 2017 11:09
The suit started trending on social media, winning the young man great admiration from a number of customers who showed interest in buying customised clothing such as jackets and suits. In an interview, he said things had really changed for the better since he painted KeNo Suits.
“Now everybody wants to get their shoes, suits, denim jackets and caps painted. I hardly rest these days because of the increase in the number of items I have to paint daily. The demand is very high. I am glad now most people know me. I receive calls and inboxes everyday from people wanting my services,” he said.
Tom’s target market is mostly the youth because they are intrigued and fascinated by his work. Even though his business is doing well so far, it also faces challenges such as some customers wanting him to paint beautiful and complicated artifacts at a lower price. He explained that maybe it was attributed to the fact that they do not understand the value of art.
“Batswana always want to set the prices for us artists, which is not good,” he said.
He pointed out that since he was a student, at times he found it hard to complete some of his work on time, as he had to study. He said his course had a lot of practical modules making it hard to balance his business and studies.
“I have to balance the two which is not easy at all. Sometimes it requires me to spend sleepless nights,” he explained.
However, the young man will not let those challenges distract him. He said he had decided to look at the bright side being that his customers always pay well in time.
He added that he also bought some of the art materials that he could not afford because they were expensive.
Tom said he was one of the people who were trying hard to make Batswana appreciate customised clothing. He noted that most people knew and appreciated him because of the wonderful works that he had been doing lately.
“It is always nice seeing people appreciate your God given talent and being able to put food on the table because of your talent. The art industry is growing in the country. Things have now changed,” he said.
When counting his blessings, Tom explained that he had a multiple of fashion designers approaching him for collaboration. However, he pointed out that he wanted to be smart when choosing who to work with hence he researched a lot about the art business even in another countries.
He said he still owes the world so many paintings and vowed to keep on going even if nobody buys his work.
He said he believed he was born to be an artist and that money will only come as a bonus for his hard work and dedication.
“I will keep on painting and drawing more especially because these days it’s not easy to find a job and I don’t want to be among the statistics of the unemployed after graduation. I want to work for myself. I want to be a fulltime artist after graduation,” he said.