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Very few local brands have been established and gone on to have as telling an impact on indigenous South African culture as the heritage brand Brentwood.
From sporty golf shirts to stylish formal wear, Brentwood is a name that’s become synonymous with gentlemanly elegance.
It has also transcended economic and social status with taxi drivers and white-collar workers alike gravitating to its chic designs.
The 50-year-old brand has engraved itself so much so that it has become as synonymous with Zulu men as ibheshu (cured animal skin, traditionally worn by Zulu men as a piece of clothing) is to this ethnic group.
Yet another way that this brand has captured the Zulu culture has been through embedding itself into the Maskandi and isicathamiya musical genres.
Many artists who have made a name from these genres have moved on from the traditional ibheshu regalia to wearing Brentwood shirts and formal trousers during their performances.
Former Drum Magazine assistant fashion editor and fashion industry game changer, Kwena Baloyi, along with the Brentwood brand on Sunday held an event at The Rand Club to ignite conversation on “how the Brentwood brand has the concept of #PassItOn entrenched in its DNA” which has led to its undying influence in South African fashion.
Joining the outspoken Kwena were fellow Brentwood loyalists and South African fashionistas – singer, songwriter, Zoe Modiga, the inkabi rap founder and Brentwood ambassador, Siyabonga Nene, and Uzalo actor Bonga Dlamini – who all engaged a sizable audience on what the brand means to them and to South African street culture over the years.
Brand ambassador, Nene, who is also known as Big Zulu kicked off the event through sharing what attracted him to the brand.
He explained that he was a part of the taxi industry for a very long time and as such what other colleagues considered stylish rubbed off on him.
“You were never fully part of the taxi industry if you didn’t have a pair of Brentwood pants. Within the community of taxi drivers if you did not own a pair you were looked down upon and considered just another ordinary individual walking the streets of Johannesburg,” said the outspoken Nene.
He added that his father was also a big influence leading to his love and idolising of the brand.
“Brentwood has always been a brand that is associated with dignity, and prestige. It’s also synonymous with quality and durability and during the struggle black people found identity in this brand. It gave them that confidence and humanity which the white men tried to take from our people,” said Nene.
Nene also highlighted how over the years the brand has found its way and become engraved in the Maskandi culture.
“For traditional Zulu men, ibheshu has always been the go to regalia for any Maskandi or isicathamiya ensemble but now when you think of and Maskandi group you can just identify them by their Brentwood designs,” said Nene.
This sentiment was echoed by Baloyi who also testified to the brand having found roots in South African culture through being passed down from generation to generation.
“This brand is a story on its own. I remember why I started associating with it, it was because of my uncles having led the way through their love for the brand that gave them dignity in how they looked when wearing the clothing. So I chose to wear Brentwood because I don’t want my uncle’s stories to die,” said Baloyi.
Even the much younger attendees such as content creator, and the ever so elegant Bonolo Modise concurred that it was in the history of the brand and the role it played in the past where Brentwood has drown its longevity.
“As a young person you really don’t fully comprehend the value of such an older brand, but from listening to the older generation relate their stories of how politics and clothing intertwine then one begins to fully appreciate this brand”.
“One, through such conversations, gets to better understanding of how they can take fashion that exited back then and rework it to fit in our current dispensation,” said Modise.
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