At age 22, Siyabonga Beyile is making huge waves in the fashion industry. On Friday May 27, he found out that he was named by Forbes as one of Africa's most influential people under 30. “A proud African, South African, Xhosa man,” as he proudly declares in the interview, Siya is not only a blooming entrepreneur but a cultural curator as well.
The young man who will be responsible for the creative direction of fashion at the South Africa Music Awards (SAMAs) on Saturday June 4 at Durban ICC, is on a mission to etch his name into history books world wide.
Beyile is the founder and creative director of The Threaded Man, a leading online destination for the modern African man to stay up to date on fashion and original style. It was launched in February 2013 and has established itself as an online portal that provides men with the latest style trends, and introduces a sophisticated lifestyle which is right for today's metro man. So when he spoke at the Y!CON conference about his journey and his business, he intrigued the CEO of SAMAs Refiloe Ramogase and the rest as they say is history.
He is looking to bring a new energy to the event, in fashion and even more so by incorporating the interests of the Afrillennial (African Millennial) with social media engagement such as sharing build up and backstage moments so as to create conversation around fashion.
With true traits of the 'over-achiever' Beyile says, “Sometimes I feel like I am stuck in the wrong time period where everyone is thinking about now, like I want Instagram friends, I need to be cool and be seen. But I am thinking about future plans, always thinking about what is next.”
He is also the new face of American Swiss - the international jewellery store - with his advertisement launching nation wide on Tuesday May 31.
For more information on the SAMAs gig read our sister paper Sunday Independent (May 29) and also check out the build up and behind the scenes sneak peaks on Siya's social media platforms from Monday.
@siyabeyile on Twitter
@siyabeyile on Instagram
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