Dickies Conversations: with Leago Scars.

If you go onto google and search “Dickies” you will find out that Dickies is a famous brand that’s under the Williams-Dickie MFG company. The brand was founded in 1922 and they manufacture apparel. Here in South Africa we were introduced to Dickies through the Kwaito era in the late 80’s and early 90’s when Amapantsula were emerging. During those times, Kwaito music was at its peak. Dickies is not just a clothing brand to many South Africans, it’s part of their identity.

Leago is a multifaceted style icon, who is constantly exploring different styles. You never know what might inspire his next outfit. He might get inspiration from his daily mood or the type of music he is listening to during that week. Inspiration is everywhere and Leago isn’t afraid to use it to his advantage. He pays influence to many South African Instagramers who are not afraid to explore different style sets and aesthetics. Recently conducted an interview to know more about his partnership with the Dickies brand and the campaigns he did with his other half, Nadine during the national lockdown.

1. We all know who Leago Scars & Nadine are, but can Leago scars and Nadine tell us who they are and what they do ?

Leago and Nadine are lovers who share the same passion. They are also fashion content creators who, are constantly pushing the boundaries of fashion in South Africa.

2. You have worked with different multiple brands, but let’s talk about Dickies. How did your partnership with the brand come about?

It was after I did my first campaign last year April which was for Adidas. I had then gotten a lot of attention from many brands, then Sportscene and Dickies called me two weeks after that and gave me a 6 month contract, which got recently extended. I’ve been working with them for a year now.

3. How did you feel when Dickies reached out ?

I was so stoked. Everything I had dreamt of was all coming into fruition in a matter of weeks, so my hard work felt recognized.

4. What does it mean to you, to work with such an iconic brand such as Dickies?

I grew up in the hood, Soweto to be exact and Dickies has always been an important brand across most hoods in the country. This meant I got the chance to represent them in the most authentic way possible, so it meant a lot to me, cause I always felt if there’s s any one I should do it for, its for my hood.

5. How has it been working with each other ?

Dickies and I have the most genuine and authentic relationship. It’s less corporate and more family like. They are curating youth culture in the most raw way and I’m honored to be in the forefront of it all.

6. What do you love and hate the most about working with your partner ?

Its bitter sweet. Its really frustrating at times, but a necessary kind of frustrating. I’m the wild ideas guy and she’s the “no” guy. She hates a lot of shit, but that one time she says yes to one of my ideas its always the best one. She’s like the sieve, she knows how to pick out the best ideas. What I love the most is that we have an authentic connection and chemistry and brands can see that. It’s one thing to hire 2 models and ask them to act like they have chemistry, but it’s another to have an actual chemistry, the camera does’t lie. You can see when the connection is fake and when its real and brands love that about us.

7. Now let’s talk about the series of campaigns you did during the lockdown, how was it like shooting during these trying times?

We felt so limited but had to work with what we have. We couldn’t go out to wonderful locations and do the shoot, all we had was my apartment, the clothes and the camera. We some how had to make it work. We felt limited cause in all our shoots we put in a lot of effort, in location scouting, conceptualizing, moodboarding etc, but this time we had not prepared at all. We literally just wore the clothes and did what we do when we are together in my apartment. We just cook, wrestle, do laundry and chill, but it had an authentic feel about it.

8. What inspired each photo series?

It was just us doing what we do everyday. Nothing even inspired it. It was literally just us being our everyday selves.

9. Would you say that the 90s & early 2000’s Kwaito played a huge influence as a reference for these campaigns ?

Definitely, I’m from the hood and I was raised by many young men in the hood who, were inspired by the Kasi culture and kwaito. They were listening to people like Mdu and Spikiri.

10. How was the experience with the infamous UNO HERMOSO behind the lenses ?

He actually goes by the name Alias 1454. He is an amazing artists and has an insane vision. I work with him often because he is not just a photographer he is a creative director. He will style you, tell you how to pose, location scout and curate the entire project. He makes my job so much easier as a model. Some photographers just keep quiet and snap.