September 3, 2021

Meet the designers on Chivas Venture x A Grade with Zaid Osman | Josh Badenhorst

ICYMI, The Chivas Venture is back with a bang. With a refreshed format that aims to make a big difference in local communities, the Chivas Venture is no longer a competition. Instead, cultural leaders will work with upcoming young talent to both nurture their skills and provide unique opportunities.

Grassroots community initiatives run by the go-getters of the world will be at the forefront of the new Chivas Venture, with success and generosity blending together as one. Unapologetic go-getters who hustle hard for their success will thrive under the close watch of relevant and local mentors – a process that will kickstart their careers and cultivate a strong sense of social responsibility.

Now we’re turning our attention to some of the designers to talk streetwear, participating in The Chivas Venture x A grade, and to get their advice for up-and-coming designers. Check out our conversation with Josh Badenhorst below. And be sure to keep it locked here because we’ll be talking to the women of the Chivas Venture x A Grade about women in streetwear.

What has your journey been like, being a freelance creative?

My journey being a freelance creative is being quite rough failures of something that made it very difficult to keep pushing and to keep going on and not allowing yourself to give up and to give in to that feeling of not being good enough or not being substantial enough for anyone to notice you has been the most difficult thing for me but being a freelance creative is good in the fact that you get to work for yourself and create what you love and you create your own artwork you create your own Lane

When creating a collection, how do you incorporate sustainability?

Incorporate sustainability by upcycling garments occasionally and making sure that all of my waste that is produced is responsibly disposed of and recycled I make sure that all of my inks are as good for the environment as they possibly can be and I make sure that I recycle like I said all of my waste

What are some of the challenges you face in a startup?

Financial pressure is definitely the biggest challenge of a startup is trying to find an investor if you can even do that or just getting the funds together to allow yourself to do what you would like to do at the level that you want to do it a lot of the times we set our expectations really high for ourselves and we expect or we think that we need the best equipment and the best of us in the best that and that will put a lot of pressure on you financially because of course that stuff is going to be the most expensive so definitely one of the biggest problems in a startup is finance and then also just getting your name out there if nobody knows about you in such a saturated market you really need to define yourself and create your own aesthetic and create your own sauce that makes you different.

How would you define your personal style?

My personal style is very all over the place I don’t really feel like I have a personal style I just switch it up all the time I don’t necessarily stay within one genre or type of clothing or that kind of thing I pretty much wear what I like. co-ordinated colours and texture and that’s pretty much it I base my outfits mostly on color.

What inspires you most about Zaid Osman?

What inspires me most about Z is that he is from real Grass Roots and his what he has has been completely self-created and from the bottom and he’s created this Legacy. His international connections and world knowledge of the fashion industry and design industry is second to none and I could not think of a better mentor for this program. Z is just also an incredible human being and I love spending time with him and he’s just a wealth of knowledge

According to you, what are the skills that are necessary for becoming a successful fashion designer?

You need to put your heart into it and you need to truly love what you do if you want to be a fashion designer or a designer of anything in general you truly need to put your heart into your work and love everything that you make because it will reflect in your work or your pieces. People will gravitate to your work if it is organic and a true reflection of you and what you enjoy doing I feel like in this industry there are so many people that are trying to fit into boxes created by others instead of creating their own and everyone is just culture vulture mentality and not creating their own work.

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