DaDiva Features: Kwena Baloyi - South African Fashion Stylist

Kwena

The first day I met Kwena, she was super excited to meet a Nigerian girl who could do all her favorite Nigerian dance moves. She made me dance and show her different moves; from ethigi to shoki; and it kinna became our thing. I was her Nigerian dancer. And every time she got excited and wanted to break into dance, she would find me and we would burst a random move and not care that we looked silly.

Through weeks of shooting, Kwena was always there…dressing 12 people to fabulocity and so naturally, I decided to do a feature on her because of how outstanding she was at her job. I have worked with stylists before but with Kwena, she not only figured out what looks worked for each individual, but she made all the individual styles work together to create a perfect pallet of style, color and classy glamour. One thing that everyone on Top Actor cast list agrees to is that Kwena nailed our styling, back to back.

I reached out and sent questions I needed her to answer to help me write her piece. After going through her replies, my regard and admiration for her soared so high.

See, Kwena is not just good at what she does, but she does it with a burst of passion and evident commitment that makes it impossible to disrespect her. As all productions go, there were times when she was upset at someone or the other and it was a beauty to watch her reprimand a person who messed up one of her cloths or complain about something or other and in a split second, go on to speak to someone else as if she wasn’t upset a second ago. With Kwena, there were no airs, no transferred aggression; just a lady who took her work seriously and did it with passion.

She also always looked the part - Hair done. Cloths fab. Style on check. Always. I once asked her how she managed to pull it off and she said “I never sleep mami”.

With the way she looked and the way she carried herself, I never imagined that Kwena had the back-story she shared with me when she answered my questions. I never imagined that she stumbled on her career or that she once didn’t even know that her career was an option. I could have bet that she had grown up working with stylists and understanding the fundamentals of fashion. I would have lost that bet woefully. Kwena’s story is one hope despite trying situations, courage, perseverance, going the extra mile and incredible passion.

Kwena Baloyi was born in Moletjie Ga-Makibelo, a small village in Limpopo, South Africa. She was born the 4th of 7 children and always wanted more than she could have. She got through with high school but could not afford University. She applied for student loans and bursaries but nothing came through for her. She was a young girl who wanted more but was stuck.

She was invited by her sister to move to cape town to find work and save for school. She didn’t love the idea but she made the move. In her words “she did what she had to do to get by”.

That move became her turning point.

The beauty of Cape Town captivated her. For her, it was like her life was just starting. She took to taking long walks and exploring – from Long street to Green Point and Sea Point, to Water Front – she fell completely in love with Cape Town and the people and the culture and in that time, she found herself.

She got her first job as a weekend sales girl for stone jewelry in an open market place and for her, the best part was talking with people and helping them figure out what items worked best with their style. Before long, the customers started to encourage her to set up her own store. That wasn’t for her though. She wanted much more. She made enquiries and soon landed a job at a fashion store that sold different brands at discounted prices.

“Iyoh, the excitement of dressing mannequins was beyond! Walking around with customers, helping them with sizes, telling them which items were great for their body types and personality was just amazing. This was special and personal for me because we built a relationship with all the people that came to the factory outlet.
I loved it so much that I didn't have a problem with not going to home to Limpopo for Xmas because, for me, I loved what my life was becoming.”

She had always been the girl who would put interesting pieces of clothing together to create a unique look. But that wasn’t the only reason she got into the fashion industry. In her words “Clothes have always been intriguing for me especially looking at how they could make people feel better about themselves. There's always been something special about putting on your favorite outfit and feeling good. The desire to not only help people look great, but also boost their confidence so that they too feel good about themselves in order to chase their dreams and achieve their goals led me into the industry”

And so she pushed the envelope.

She placed a call to South Africa's largest black magazine, DRUM and told them she was interested in working with the then fashion editor. She told them she didn't know anything about magazines, but that she would do great if given the opportunity because she had confidence in her skill. She didn’t get an opportunity. But then she kept at it…emailing and phoning them till they called her in for an interview.

“I had so much charisma and persistence they just couldn't resist. I couldn't even contain my excitement. If the song "Mama I Made It' (Cassper Nyovest) was out then I would have been singing it day and night because after that interview I was in, given a chance to do what I absolutely love”

Kwena came to discover her life on the streets…looking at her surroundings, being interested in things and people, dreaming and being driven and constantly fighting to make her dreams come true. She started small in an industry she didn’t even know existed and then set a goal for herself and kept pushing till she got exactly what she wanted.

My interview with her was long and insightful and knowing you guys, if I write it all in one post, you people will send daggers into my heart through your device screens. So, I will tell you more about Kwena in other posts…she shared things about making it in the industry and about her dreams and the sort of dreams you should be having (if you want to be a fashion stylist). She spoke about challenges and things life has thrown at her and all that will come up in a 3 part post series called KwenaSays.

Follow her on instagram: @kwenasays

A fitting for me and Shamilla (you will get to know her soon)

A south african traditional bridal shoot for Drum Magazine

Shoot for Drum Magazine