AYA EDIT – CREATING REALITY THROUGH SUSTAINABLE FASHION

The founders of Insyd/Owt Creatives are bubbly and energetic sisters Boikokobetso and Bohloeki who hail from Lithabaneng, a village just outside Lesotho’s capital Maseru. They are all about telling stories and using their everyday wear and creative designs to achieve this. 

Even before the interview kicked off they made their presence felt immediately and that they relish being themselves. It is evident their carefree manner is undergirded by a seriousness that defines their ambitions of wanting people to be comfortable with who they are and expressing their individuality free of the opinions of others. 

AYA Africa has had the pleasure of having walked a proverbial e-commerce mile with Insyd/Owt Creatives. They are AYA Africa’s first vendors to have handmade apparel (Shongolo Work Jacket) shipped to the United States. It was a steep learning curve for everyone involved in the process but it has brought AYA Africa one step closer to fulfilling its ambition of solving cross-border logistics for SMEs on the African continent. 

These two self-described ‘village girls’ live by the slogan, “Creative Reality”. 

This is how they unpacked their concept of creative reality: 

“….business can be very intimidating, the seriousness of everything is so intimidating… so we gave ourselves permission to live out our lives as open and as creative as possible in a way that will eventually grow as a brand… Giving permission to be ourselves….” 

They enjoy slow living, which is pivotal to their creative process. This is what makes their designs and craftsmanship so special: they have made a deliberate choice to avoid the hullabaloo of a chaotic and fast-paced lifestyle to make clothing that puts the individual first.

Part of their daily routine is taking daily walks to a nearby dam where they discuss new ideas, the day’s events, and more intimate thoughts. 

Sustainable fashion has become a vogue phrase in recent years. But for Insyd/Owt, sustainable fashion speaks to their lived reality and financial constraints, which is a hurdle all creative startups struggle to overcome.  

The sisters managed to articulate sustainable fashion in their usual bubbly yet serious way:

“This lifestyle chose us….. Using what we have and being resourceful….. Problem-solving….And being a responsible human..” 

Insyd/Owt’s clothing can be best described as artworks that are alive and exclusive to each customer. Social media campaigns form a big part of the Insyd/Owt brand and have touched their followers in ways that they could not have imagined.  They are working on more standardised designs, but everything they make will always be one of a kind.

What is the end goal for Insyd/Owt’s social media campaigns:  

“...social media is a planet or world on its own…. Where sometimes showing up as yourself is not so acceptable… but someone cannot be so acceptable because there is a standard someone decided they are going to put their handbag on the table and then yours will go under the table because it’s not good enough….. Provoking authenticity… this is the best of me and I am okay with it…..Showing up as yourself, what do you have to lose?……We are our own wealth…”

“The irony is, we all know about these social things anxiety, depression… but we choose not to use these social platforms to create wellness for these social issues we know about…” 

When they are not dreaming of opening up their corner showroom/store in a location that is still yet to be determined and manoeuvring around the daily joys and hassles of working from home and constantly getting nourishment from their surroundings and loved ones; the Insyd/Owt sisters are busy with multiple projects. 

For more information about this dexterous duo and their stylistic clothing and pieces, please reach out to us.