The Bucket Hat and Naomi Kholofelo Ramatsetse
When some people create, we feel like they put their creations in a basket we can all pass around and share. Therefore, when they hand it to you, it feels like they sat in their state of creation and thought of how fitting the creation is for you. It feels like it was birthed because you exist. There are things in this world made to make you feel alive and I believe they breathe in the fabrics of the garments we wear. Nothing gives us a reason to get dressed like a bucket hat. And since we throw on bucket hats because it is just our thing, when we stumbled upon The Naomi KR brand we had to let her own the story of the bucket hat with us.
21 year old Naomi Kholofelo Ramatsetse looks at herself and sees a fashion youtuber, content creator and creative entrepreneur. She introduced herself as the founder and designer behind the proudly South African fashion brand, Naomi KR (@thenaomikr). In addition to who she sees, we also see the creator of a creation that when is handed to us, feels like it was birthed because we exist. The bucket hat. Naomi’s hands give life to something that is a part of our South African fashion culture. And we are grateful that she sees creates bucket hats to allow us to see ourselves and our culture in what we wear.
We are in love with your bucket hats and know that South Africa has a culture around the spoti. And we know how deeply rooted it is for us; it is not just a fashion statement. For amaPantsula, it is an extension of who they become and who they are on stages. It is beyond just seeing a hat and wearing it because it matches your bag or jeans. What influence has that had on your creative journey? How important has seeing our society accept and incorporate the bucket hat into their individual style affected your work?
South African culture has a strong inspiration in my work, especially recently. It goes as far back as my primary school days. The first page of this story begins with a time when bucket hats were the in thing and I had the hands to cut up a pair of jeans and hand stitch this emblem of South African culture for myself.
South Africans love a good spoti from the street vendors to taxi drivers, dikhothane to ausi wako spaza, it’s a hat for me and for you. It’s a hat for everyone and when the bucket hat made its way back from just being worn by particular subcultures to being worn by everyone again, I was inspired. It led me down a path of bringing prints and textures to the mix. It was therefore important that those varieties gave people an opportunity to express themselves uniquely in their personal style. I think it has been particularly beautiful seeing how ageless and gender neutral the bucket hats are even with the bold prints and textures. I love how it has remained true to the culture of being a bucket hat for everyone.
READ OUR ARTICLE ON CROCHET COUTURE: http://sacreativenetwork.co.za/2021/03/the-story-of-nonhlanhla-and-crochet-couture-za/
Let’s also talk about your animal prints. Why animal prints? Do you have a personal relationship there? What are you trying to communicate with those prints through your fashion?
I’ve always loved bold prints and textures; the love stems from the personalities of the people around me. People like my mother, my aunts and my friends are all very bold, expressive and striking. They have inspired me to incorporate their personalities into the bucket hats. This was also a huge trend for A/W trend in 2020/2021. I intend on exploring with more colours and textiles for our 2021 drop which is coming soon.
Which of your bucket hats do you believe is a statement bucket hat or one everyone should have in their closet? Why?
The statement bucket hat I would say is the zebra print fleece. It can easily be incorporated from day and nightwear and the one everyone should have in their closet is the white faux fur bucket hat because it’s a classic colour that can go well with any outfit when styled well.
