We were lucky to catch up with Ulenni Okandlovu recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ulenni , thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
As a freelance journalist most of my story ideas I pitched to the media house about visual art & Zimbabwe’s subcultures never made it to the press. On top of that there wasn’t mainstream platforms that gave a chance for the subcultures & underground artists & creatives to showcase their work.
Ulenni , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Ulenni Okandlovu is the founder & creative director of Skeyi&Strobo studio & agency founded in 2018 & based in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Under Skeyi&Strobo, Ulenni is the curator & creative director of Skeyi&Strobo Fabrik Party which he founded in 2020 as an art & design event & platform for street art, fashion, alternative music & subcultures. Over past 3 years SS Fabrik Party has s grown fast & became Zimbabwe’s leading art & design events and platform.
The platform has inspired many creatives & business in Zimbabwe to look into subcultures & fashion, it has changed the face of fashion in Zimbabwe & has inspired more fashion designers to break boundaries in thier creations & curation.
In 2023 Skeyi&Strobo successful launched its first ever 3 days Fabrik Party Convention that would be happening annual.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In 2019 I stopped working as a freelance journalist to focus on building Skeyi&Strobo, which was a big risk of spending months & months without any guaranteed income.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
The first capital was putting together an idea that motivated partners to come on board invest their resources, skills, time & knowledge. The SS Fabrik Party started with a model to grow all stakeholders business, just after the first editions our partners & collaborators were already getting clients & commissions based on the work & spotlight they had got from the events we hosted.
This boosted their businesses & fuelled our growth & expansion as a reputable platform.
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Image Credits
Emelie Victoria Vigorous Youth Aesthetics Kuda Chakwanda Lennoxthephotographer