In Design | PatCH Accessories

Chido Kaseke has a lot on her mind. Luckily for us, we get to see what goes on in there by way of her designs. Creative Designer and Founder of PatCH Accessories, Chido cites Adele Dejak as her muse and it's not too difficult to see why given that they both share a great talent of creating Africanised vintage pieces that both take your breath away and have you eagerly reaching for your purse.

I ask Chido about her brand PatCH Accessories (a moniker derived form a combination of her first name and her mothers, Patricia), where her inspiration comes from and what challenges she faces as crafter in Zimbabwe.

How did you get started?

I always had the hand and mind to make/create. As a child in primary school, we did home economics and I was always the first to catch onto the basic skills we were taught, from sewingto hand knitting…I would always be the first to bring back completed tasks we were given …even as a high school student, I always struggled to follow the norms and trends that my fellow teens were crazy about.

Chido Kaseke, Founder of PatCH Accessories

I would add my own flare to clothing by sewing on beads, or turning a piece of fabric into a really funky top that had everyone asking where I got it from as it was pretty cool. So because I had this in me…I took the opportunity to use this talent to create an income, I used to buy a lot of beads, sequins, embroidery threads etc and would just try a lot of different things, I would make my own accessories which I would wear to attend to functions or even on a daily basis and I would always get comments and eventually orders from people who wanted the same thing. A lot of people showed interest in my work and that gave me the extra drive I needed to get started.

PatCH Accessories Designs

What does design or designing mean to you?

In a nutshell.......Creating and transforming! I would describe my creativity as taking something from its ordinary setup or being and using available resources to make it into something new and different. I love vintage and with my designs and style I like to add a twist of vintage so it’s a vintage- afrocentric affair going on. The smallest thing around me could give me inspiration…as a creative mind, my eyes are always open around me to see what people are wearing, what people are doing and sometimes even the texture of certain things/raw materials give me inspiration. Normally im inspired to make something when I have had an experience with a certain item and I have thought of other ways it can be transformed completely so it can be used or worn in a totally different way.

What inspires you to create a new piece of design?

Im normally inspired to create a new design when i have a function i have to attend, it’s nice to always wear something new and different to what everyone else will have so i get excited about dressing up and accessorising - my mind will start working, this is most of the time. Tthe rest of the times I am inspired when i am in the store looking for fabric and haberdashery. Unique items also inspire me to create something new. The most exciting thing about being a designer is the feeling of excitement I get when an idea pops us in my head…..the thought of a new creation and the transition from conception to the joy,fulfilment I get when I look at an end product after creating it from scratch. Mostly it’s unplanned and spontaneous. I create something from my head and I develop it as I go, so the sketch and ponder part for me usually comes after I have created a product spontaneously and I have done atest run on it, then I sketch and ponder as I develop the best way to create the end and final product.

If you were to change anything in the fashion industry, what would it be?

I would like to increase awareness of the fact that designers in the fashion industry can make a living through their talents as long as they work hard, stretch for the right exposure and not sit on their talent…..and I would like to do this by getting into schools to impart skills that will empower young ones by nurturing talent at an early age and teaming up with the right participants within industry to teach partnering entrepreneurship and talent with skills to create sustainable living and growth to our economy.

From your point of view or experiences what is the greatest challenge about being a designer?

From my view and experience, not getting the acceptance and support from society as a designer has to be the greatest challenge I have faced. I believe that gone are the days where having a job meant working a 9-5 job in an office at a desk, creatives can make a living and become very successful if society supported our growth and got rid of the misconception that being a designer is not a full time and paying job but just a hobby! Another challenge local designers in Zimbabwe are facing is lack of support for products designed and manufactured locally. Someone will not buy my product at an exhibition show here in Zimbabwe, but the same person will find my product at an exhibition show in Kenya and will buy it there and will also pay more in Kenya than they would have paid when they saw it back at home. Lack of support from community is our worst nightmare.

Get in contact with PatCh Accessories on: https://www.facebook.com/patch.accessors?fref=ts

All pictures by Henry Oliver Photos