From the Car Boot to the Shop

As for the directors of Pipeline fashions which they established in January 2013, their story is more like a fairy tale with a happy ending.

The two young accountants Simbarashe Mambanda and Tawanda Ncube who were working tooth and nail to feed their small families resorted into importation of clothes from China which they sold in their car boots full time during lunch breaks at work or wherever the opportunity arose.

They discovered a market niche for corporate and casual office wear which was in high demand.

They later changed from selling to hiring out suits for special occasions especially weddings boasting of catering for more than 20 of them in 2017, also dressing up local celebrities the likes of Josh Kayz, Kuda Mutsvene and the recently wedded Comic Pastor who and his bridal team were all dressed by Pipeline Fashions.

As their business grew the two then upgraded to a boutique and in the near future they are planning to grow their branch network countrywide were they have already attracted a number of clients.

At their fifth anniversary at Cresta Lodge in Harare they staged a men’s wear fashion show for all occasions of what is available in store and dress up ideas for men which were displayed.

Responding to why they do not engage in business with local designers instead of importing clothes Simbarashe had this to say, “we have done so lately but to our disappointment the local designers failed to deliver on time and we always fought because of poor fabric quality and failure to supply targeted number and high costs which always placed us at a disadvantage. We risked losing our clientele. We are coming up with a solution to establish our own factory.”

He also added that they had stopped venturing into ladies wear because it was not as demanding as the opposite sex but that they had plans to re-introduce the line in the future.

Their loyal customers since their car boot days were accorded with gratuity gifts at the function.