This week’s cool kid on the block uses his fine art to inspire the youth through clothing.
Third-year BSc Urban and Regional planning student Tlotlo Motwane combines two art forms by printing out his fine art drawings to be displayed on his clothing brand, “Kid Hood”.
Motwane considers himself to be a fine artist and aims to use his craft to educate the youth and be more visible in doing so through his brand, which was established in 2018.
“Instead of going to exhibitions and exhibiting one piece of art work, I use clothing to sell my art. So I multiply the artwork via the clothing so that I can make better sales and put my voice out there better. If I go to an exhibition, I can’t duplicate my artwork,” he said.
“[Kid Hood] is a stage in life where a person identifies their true destiny, their true passion,” he said.
Motwane told Wits Vuvuzela that he started drawing when he was six years old and found that he had a talent in the arts at the age of eight, and continued to draw what he saw around him. The 20-year-old artist said that the name for the clothing brand came from a name that he and his childhood friends had given themselves.
“We started a crew in Soweto and we all ended up going our separate ways. I kept the name and gave it meaning,” Motwane said. “The brand is about conscious art. It’s about making people aware of the inequalities faced by our society.”
Kid Hood also features a range called ‘Idiosyncratic’ which Motwane says is all about embracing one’s unique talents and abilities.
“Idiosyncratic means unique. I feel like everyone has their unique talent, their unique brand and I feel like society, it blocks a lot of people from discovering their talent. I want to encourage the youth particularly to go out there and explore what they really like,” he said.
Motwane is embracing his talents and hopes that he can further stretch his brand to more stores to continue to inspire people, particularly the youth.
“Before [I go international] I need to design my own shop so it looks more like an art museum than an actual clothing brand, because that’s the motive of my art, fine art.
“I just want to franchise in every province,” he said.
Kid Hood sells caps, beanies, t-shirts and hoodies on Instagram. The brand will be at the Braamfontein Fresh Out store in June.
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