“The plan was to make and sell clothes however the funds weren’t there, so I had to do what I had to do and use whatever resources that were made available to me.” said Kamogelo Nkambule.

Kamogelo Nkambule, a young lady who has always found interest in art and business that landed her into fashion and design.  Found in Marapyane, Nkambule is a very creative person with an unstoppable imagination.  With her gifted innovative mind full of great ideas, she discovered her love for fashion at a very young stage while still in Primary School.

Nkambule wishes for her talent to be noticed one day. “I guess it was something I was born with, initially I was just doing fashion sketches then developed the interest to bring my sketches to life.” she said. Because of the ambition, she pushed her ideas of clothing creation even though she didn’t understand the pattern she put on paper, couldn’t figure the construction that needs to be put to get an outcome. But with a friend of hers Boipelo Modikoe, entertained her then silly dream and made disaster skirts. A memory they will both cherish.

Eventually she stopped and focussed on her schoolwork as a primary student but years later fashion knocked once again and this time she was matured enough to understand and go for it the right way. After a few fashion construction lessons from Adda Bhala, one of the designers who took part in season one of the fashion competition show called RAW SILK on SABC 1, Nkambule’s business was started in 2017. The formation of Kamo N Glam clothing brand was motivated by the desire of becoming a fashion designer.

With every business, everything is rocky at first; the first challenge she had to pass through is not consulting with family when she ventured on the journey, leaving them clueless till today as to how and when she took lessons for the career, she’s in. The family have not always been supportive because of their own doubts, which Nkambule understands and is glad to find that they are slowly warming up to what she’s doing and is appreciative of them for accepting, especially her mother Lizzy Nkambule.

The other challenging thing is marketing. One requires to have proper advertising to reach clientele, for her what currently works, is social media posts with the help from friends referring potential clients. “They post my work on their media accounts so I’m very thankful for their efforts, they do not go unnoticed.” said Nkambule. The format they went for to market is the only one she is managing to do and believes once she can get access to enough funding, she can look into more marketing strategies available.

In the Industry Nkambule is in, building a brand without proper capital can be difficult to pursue growth, everything will move twice slower than it would with the right finances. All she can do now is to imagine all the amazing designs she could create and bring to life. “It becomes very discouraging because it seems as though I’m not doing much when in fact I actually do have great ideas that need money to be made available. I get frustrated a lot because I can’t share or rather express my concepts with my clients, they need more, they want to see more and they want to buy more but lack of proper finances is hindering the entire process.” Expressed Nkambule

Currently due unforeseen circumstances, all she can focus on, is custom made orders but hopes to build from there. With her dreams and strength to keep moving, her faith is sting in believing one day, Kamo N Glam the brand will reach the stage of success. Nkambule is driven by the power of not relying on financial breakthrough from the government, she channels her mind in being a producer instead of a consumer.

“We need to build sustainable businesses for the future generation. Last year was a wakeup call to many of us that we need to have our own establishments that will keep our livelihoods protected, financial security is very important. We can’t honestly depend only on jobs that can be taken away from us at any moment so I believe we should do away with the mentality of only wanting to become employees but look into being employers ourselves. Business works if you want it to.”

Nkambule says loving the business you want to venture, fuels the passion to start the business. Her advice to those in the process of starting is to do what you can with the little you have, crying about capital will not bring forward a situation. Taking the first step is going an extra mile, its starting small that matters the most, the rest can be figured out along on your way up and aim to whatever it takes to keep moving.

With inspiration gathered from the likes of Kentse Masilo, she sees a lot in her work and would one day wish to collaborate with Masilo. And if designing and clothing wasn’t her first love, Nkambule would have opted for something to do with property and interior designing. Looks like designing and being creative is a thing for her.

Her biggest goal is to become a clothing or fashion retailer, also franchising Kamo N Glam. Another thing being collaborate with local designers, create a brand that will be known worldwide. The journey is far from over for the young entrepreneur, she says she has a lot to offer and will not stop until the end game.