House of Nalo introduces docker caps

By Rosalia David

ALBERTINA Hamukwaya better known as DJ Alba and owner of ‘House of Nalo’ (HON), an accessory line, has added another assortment to her brand but this time around she is introducing docker caps.

With the aim of broadening her horizons by venturing into business, DJ Alba continues to impress local fashionistas with every piece of accessory she puts together.

With her gifted hands, she has also dominated the fickle entertainment industry in Namibia for some time through being one of the first female disc jockeys to start spinning the decks in the country.

In an interview with Confidente recently, DJ Alba talked about her newly launched docker caps saying that the inspiration hailed from studying the market.

“Well, since last year I have seen a couple of people asking where they can buy docker caps and to my surprise I noticed that there isn’t a place where they sell them. So that is when I got triggered and asked myself, why not give the people what they want and winter was the perfect time to launch this collection,” she said.

Although she mentioned that the caps are high in demand she said, she only made a limited number to test the waters before distributing them in different regions.

“We want to see how people will receive them first but surprisingly from the ones we have sold already, the response is overwhelming and it encourages me to continue making more. We have almost reached our target,” she added.

With a reputation for juggling well both her endeavors, early this year, she launched another stunning earring collection themed, ‘The abstracts from the motherland’.

“With the new earring collection I wanted people to start familiarising themselves with the Namibian map earrings and be proud of being Namibian, so, I was like, let me try making earrings that symbolise our country.

She further added that, ‘The abstracts from the motherland collection’ also aims at normalising wearing local hand-made earrings the same way consumers wear African-shaped accessories.

Now that the deejaying career is at a standstill due to the pandemic, DJ Alba said she is exploring new ideas to grow her accessory business to be recognised internationally.

“I can’t really say HON has been affected since we are based online and we use delivery services most of the time. Of course at the beginning of the lockdown it was definitely a bit of an inconvenience considering most suppliers were closed so that was really challenging in terms of fulfilling orders.

Asked on how she balances being a DJ and her accessory business, DJ Alba said, “I can confidently say the two do not clash … well at least not yet. I just really try to manage my time efficiently especially now that the entertainment industry is basically on a break I have a bit more time to explore more ideas with regards to music and House of Nalo.”

Now that she has launched the docker caps, she promises nothing but more surprises from HON.