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Bucket hats aka spoti no new fashion

Trompies. TKzee, Alaska, kwaito legends who made the pantsula trend popular amongst men in the 90’s and now fashion entrepreneur Gareth Cowden is one of the experts who’s given the trend a feminine touch.

With fashion transforming, items that were exclusively for males have an androgynous feel and name to fit in the new generation.

The bell bottoms are now hipsters, platform shoes are now called wedges and the spoti now given the fancy bucket hat name. 

However twang or not a 'bucket hat' remains part of the pantsula subculture in Mzansi.

“Bucket hat aka spoti is a pantsula look, in the past we saw it as a muscular trend but now it is tapping into feminine style. Our hats represent African pride our style is getting bigger we encourage African art and attire,” says Cowden.

As founder of Babatunde a fashion brand promoting strong African values through fashion, Cowden says he is far from being titled as a designer.

“The word designer makes me nervous because I really haven’t designed as much I see myself as a fashion entrepreneur.”

Cowden credits his work and experience in the media industry as a source of his inspiration.

His CV includes work; first as a fashion assistant at Elle magazine, fashion editor for Ymag and Soccer Life as well as 10 years as a stylist.

As a former stylist he saw an opportunity to transform a plain hat look into a African print design making the culture of pantsula hat very urban.

Although looked at as a sloppy style; with creativity in designs Cowden has fused African wax prints into the spoti allowing street style to look fresh.

His work has now earned him opportunities of expanding his business to countries such as Kenya, Switzerland, France, Botswana, Tanzania, Uganda and Namibia.

The prices of items on catalogue range from R200 to R490.

To see more of Gareth Cowden’s clothing accessories and hats visit Babatunde.com website.

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