Revamped Anno launches new and exciting ranges

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Wednesday April 28, 2010 00:00

 

Initially, the project kicked off as a venture between Naane and Matlhomola Motsage but the latter later left on his own volition. Last year, the fashion house was reinvented with Odirile 'Vee' Sento being roped in as marketing director and shareholder and back then, the partners declared that the reinvention was meant to 'advance the fashion industry to upper heights and implement a worldwide revolution'. Vee has since stopped being an active member although he is still dressed by the fashion house.

Now the brand has launched new 'free-styles' in its logo designs that include Anno Policio, Anno Domin, Anno Republika, Anno Bechuana, Anno Ladies, Anno Denim and other freestyles will be adopted in the near future to add 'flavour' to the brand.

Some of the 'free-styles' that have been dropped from the label include Anno Vee, Feshen Police and Feshen Revolution.

'The logo for the brand is two lions facing each other; the lions are derived from the nickname Tau, that I was given by my uncle Eric Naane,' says Naane.

Anno's products entail trench coats (which are a must-have fashion items this winter), casual and formal shirts, casual and formal pants, safari wear, golf T-shirts, head-gear, sportswear, T-shirts and tracksuits. They eventually hope to include eyewear, footwear, deodorants, hand and luggage bags and underwear.

In this era where most local fashion labels seem to mainly focus on 'patching' designs on ready-made t-shirts, Anno has most certainly set themselves apart by tailoring everything from the beginning to the end and because of that, Naane says that competition hardly gives him any hard time since he believes that his products are unique and 'totally different' from other local lines.

'I want to make sure that my brand achieves and maintains an international standard which will enable me to easily penetrate foreign markets. I am also trying by all means to benchmark big brands such as Georgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Pringle of Scotland and others,' asserts Naane adding that the three brands, especially Armani, are his inspiration.  While Naane told Showbiz that he commends the Botswana government for youth empowerment through programmes like the Youth Development Fund, LEA, CEDA and Young Farmers' Fund, he is worried that there are hindrances that the youth face, citing unfair competition from foreign chain stores as one of them.

'Foreign chain-stores in Botswana are never interested in local products no matter how much quality you present to them. I am suggesting that these companies should be made to sign a binding contract before they can start operating in Botswana that they shall reserve not less than 40 percent of their shelve for local products, and this should be enforced by law,' he says.  He also challenges the Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) to ensure that they should liaise with other relevant authorities to make sure that low quality goods do not easily find their way into the country.

He also fired a salvo at Botswana Television (Btv), which he accuses of not supporting local fashion houses and preferring foreign brands instead.

'Btv should go back to their drawing board because they do not want to support us convincingly. They should make sure that they start to give priority to local fashion houses whenever things like dressing their presenters are concerned,' he says.  Naane however commends the government for the stimulus package that it is planning to use to bail out ailing textile and clothing enterprises, which will also assist them to recover from the recent global recession. Currently, Anno is dressing among other celebrities, Thabo 'Mapetla' Ntirang, Odirile 'Vee' Sento, Slizer, Joel 'Ntsoro' Keitumele and Thabo 'T.H.A.B.O' Bolokwe. According to Naane, they are still awaiting responses from both Btv and eBotswana to offer them to dress their presenters in some of their programmes.

Boutiques and shops that stock Anno products include Laroche (Gaborone), Big n' Small (Gaborone), Gear Mix (Gaborone), First Performance (Lobatse) and Tony's Craft (Mahalapye). Soon the range will be available in Mafia Soul outlets in Riverwalk, Main Mall and African Mall.