Stepping up to the style challenge with Rep Lepara

Representing a wisdom for street style, Rep Lepara is a brand that embodies street elegance. The brand is grounded by its belief in unique quality products and craftsmanship and tells the story of Joburg’s streets in a classic and tailored fashion.

Established in 2016, Rep Lepara was born in the streets of Joburg and carries with it an ethos of hustling, wisdom and pushing passion. Using style as a medium of expression, the brand’s name is directly translated into ‘representatives of wisdom.’

“I liked the concept and at that time I was on the streets and I wanted to find a way to represent the concept. That’s how Rep Lepara came about. As a brand, we’re representing the wisdom we have for street style,” said Makgwale Mareme, Rep Lepara founder and creative director.

With both an online store and headquarters in Newtown, Rep Lepara has been receiving praises locally and internationally for its craftsmanship and attention to detail. Makgwale said the brand incorporates four elements into its style; street culture, art, quality and simplicity – elements which are integrated into each and every piece made.

“We started off with hats but later ventured into t-shirts, sweaters, blazers and more. The movement into these other pieces represents our evolution as a brand,” Makgwale said.

Initially hustling on the city’s streets and infusing a knack for art into the brand, Makgwale said his love for design and creation continues to have an influence over him. Keeping in mind that the future is African he said the brand works tirelessly to narrate its perspective of what design is.

“I love design, I studied mechanical engineering and growing up my mother was a dress maker. I was exposed to a lot of fabrics so I grew the fascination for design there – from mechanical design, aesthetics and architecture. With me it’s always the science behind design and finding ways to push the envelope,” he said.

Makgwale’s exposure to different mediums of design has given him the courage to treat every detail of Rep Lepara creations like a masterpiece. Selecting quality materials and paying attention to every detail for uniquely crafted pieces in a way that challenges conceptions around style.

“We’re all about style. The rules are to not overdo it we always need to keep it simple and functional. The pieces must be timeless and relevance and we find that in the simplicity,” said Makgwale.

Although put together with the month of love in mind, Makgwale’s outfit ideas can be tweaked and adjusted for many other occasions as they go across the spectrum of smart casual, elegant and street-ready. He said people need to know their fashion personalities when putting together outfits to add the finishing touch.

“The outfits are inspired by the Month of Love. The idea was to have synergy between guys and girls because our brand is mostly masculine we tried to put a feminine twist and bringing out that side of the brand – we’re also working on catering for women,” said.

For some outfit inspiration, browse through some of Rep Lepara’s looks below: