Team Mbano is proud to share our new uniform identity, and the inspiring story behind the uniform design.
Since the hotel opening in January 2020, Mbano Manor Hotel staff have worn as uniforms, standard items sourced from local garment factories. Simple black shirts and pants, to which we added the Mbano logo. The opening uniform was smart, practical, and functional.
COVID and early post-COVID times were tough. We simply did not have the resources needed to invest in a specific custom-made Mbano uniform.
In December 2023, a mass-garment factory burned down in Harare. A reliable source for Mbano’s uniform was gone! It was a sign, we believe. Time for Mbano to change the uniform and reflect our true position as a new luxury boutique hotel, proudly locally owned and managed.
In February 2024, the hotel team surprised Mbano Founder Doc Mati on her birthday, with a beautiful gift – a wooden carving of a mother-child elephant herd. As Mbano General Manager Eddie explains,
“Mbano is the hotel name. Culturally, Mbano represents Doc Mati’s clan totem which is the female elephant. Totems epitomise our rich social, economic, and historical background of African people, based on our ancestry, identity, respect, conservation, and shared achievements.
We share the Mbano cultural poem on our website – the poem opens with the words, “Hevo Mbano – Hail Elephant. Hence the birthday gift carving of a family of elephants”
Doc loves the carving! The elephant herd gift is the inspiration for the new uniform hotel design. Doc asked her nephew, Kuda Mtutu, a budding creative designer based in London UK, to assist in designing the Mbano uniform.
Kuda produced the designs and we all were delighted with the proposed new hotel uniform design. Kuda explains,
“Mbano Manor Hotel represents luxury and elegance, powered by a sense of family, heritage, and beautiful surroundings. I wanted the design to incorporate these nuances on a motif of a family of elephants in their natural habitat surrounded by the Mbano Logo all elegantly placed on the garments, giving a sense of purpose to the team, and contributing to the overall experience of the hotel clients.”
Roll forward to July 2024. The uniform is ready. We are delighted to share our new uniform and celebrate the rich cultural heritage that our brand celebrates.