Celebrating Guyanese culture with Swank Clothing Co.

By Gibron Rahim

THE path to entrepreneurship can be a difficult one. Entrepreneurs oftentimes invest their own money into a venture, the success of which they cannot guarantee. It is even more so for business ideas that may be considered unconventional in Guyana. Yet, there are stories of young Guyanese entrepreneurs who are working on making their dreams a reality. Among these entrepreneurs is Jamall Hinds with his clothing brand Swank Clothing Co.
Creativity and design are no strangers to Jamall. A graphic designer by profession, he explained to the Pepperpot Magazine that he had wanted to design his own t-shirts for his personal use as a means of expressing himself, for quite some time. It was in December 2012 that he designed his first t-shirt and did a few designs for his personal use.

Some time passed after these early efforts but it was Guyana’s 50th Independence celebrations that saw a resurgence of Jamall’s interest in t-shirt design. A fellow graphic designer came to him with the idea for them to design and sell t-shirts that were reminiscent of Guyana. Together, the two designed a few t-shirts, but due to some difficulties, the t-shirts were never put into production. The idea was put on the backburner once again.

Eventually, in November 2016, Jamall came across a t-shirt design he had created years before. He decided to refine the design. That finished design became the graphic for the ‘Big Market Tee’. “I really liked the way it looked and I felt others would too,” he said. “That’s when I decided to launch Swank.”

UPS AND DOWNS
The beginning of the venture was by no means smooth sailing for Jamall. While the production process was not a problem, the difficult bit was getting the t-shirts into the hands of the customers. Naturally introverted, Jamall found the idea of approaching stores to carry the brand discomfiting. In the beginning, he met with customers directly and that was the way the t-shirts were sold. There were some drawbacks to that approach, however. He noted that many people were skeptical of committing to buying a product that they had not seen in person. They preferred to go to a store and examine the quality of a t-shirt for themselves.

Given the preferences of potential customers and his own introversion, Jamall realised that his original idea of having his brand in stores was the best way to go. He met with the owners of three stores and established a working relationship with them. The switch turned out to be more convenient for customers and himself alike.

A BRAND IN ITS OWN RIGHT
An important point of clarification, as Jamall explained, is that Swank is a clothing brand. It does not specialise in t-shirt printing. He has a relationship with a local printing store. That establishment handles the “getting the design onto the t-shirt” part of the process.

CELEBRATING GUYANESE CULTURE
Much of Swank’s focus is on designs based on Guyana and this aspect is a very important one to Jamall. He has observed, as we all have, that brands we see and wear every day have designs based on the United States. He made this point, not to imply that there was anything wrong with these brands or with the people who wear them, but to illustrate how American culture has in a sense infected people on an international scale. “Swank intends to take a step forward in the direction of having Guyanese culture do the same,” he said.
The response Swank has garnered so far has been encouraging. Jamall related that people have told him that they love what he is doing and are surprised by the quality of the t-shirts. The one issue he has is that everyone who knows about Swank learned about it only through social media. While good in itself, Jamall hopes for more. He told the Pepperpot Magazine that he knows that Swank will get an even better response once he does more to make Swank’s name known to Guyanese living in Guyana or overseas.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A PROFESSION
Entrepreneurship is not for everybody. Jamall explained that, just as not everyone is meant to be a doctor or lawyer or accountant, not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur he said means being willing to take risks which a lot of people are not

willing to do. And there is nothing wrong with that. He explained that he himself has a nine-to-five job that enables him to fulfill certain responsibilities, even though he would much rather be able to go all in and fully commit to Swank and his graphic design business. He understands then why most people prefer the security that those jobs provide them with.
Being an entrepreneur is not what is important. Working on your own dreams rather than someone else’s is the important part Jamal told the Pepperpot Magazine. Working a nine-to-five job he said is nothing less than working on someone else’s business when you could be building your own.

THE FUTURE OF SWANK
There is certainly more ahead for Jamall and for Swank Clothing Co. but whatever the future may hold, Jamall is happy to represent Guyana with Swank’s designs. “I’m very proud to be promoting Guyanese culture… seeing people post pictures on Instagram wearing a t-shirt that I designed is a priceless feeling, to say the least.”