Above: After a few years behind the scenes honing her skills
at the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco, Meklit Hadero is
taking center stage. (Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Keck)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Tuesday, May 25, 2010
New York (Tadias) – San Francisco- based songstress Meklit Hadero is scheduled to make an upcoming concert appearances in the East Coast, beginning with Bernos’ 4th anniversary celebration this coming weekend in Washington, D.C. and at Le Poisson Rouge in New York on June 1st.
The Ethiopian-born artist has been attracting national attention with the release of her new album On A Day Like This. Reviewers have compared her voice to that of the legendary singer Nina Simone. “Once you hear her smooth and silky voice it will be hard to forget it,” NPR’s Allison Keyes recently reported.
“It is an honor to have Meklit Hadero perform at our 4th year anniversary,” said Beshou Gedamu, business partner at Bernos. “She is an amazing artist with a powerful voice that resonates.”
Hadero obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science before moving to San Francisco to pursue her true love – music. NPR’s guest host described Hadero’s sound as “a unique blend of jazz, Ethiopia, the San Francisco art scene and visceral poetry.” “It paints pictures in your head as you listen,” she adds.
Above: Meklit Hadero will perform at the Warehouse loft in
Washington D.C. on May 29, 2010. (Photo Credit: Tsehai
Publishers).
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Published: Friday, May 14, 2010
New York (Tadias) – Singer-songwriter Meklit Hadero will headline the concert at Bernos’ four year anniversary event in Washington, D.C. next weekend on May 29th, 2010.
The Ethiopian-born artist has been attracting national attention with the release of her new album On A Day Like This. Reviewers have compared her voice to that of the legendary singer Nina Simone. “Once you hear her smooth and silky voice it will be hard to forget it,” NPR’s Allison Keyes recently reported.
Hadero obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science before moving to San Francisco to pursue her true love – music. NPR’s guest host described Hadero’s sound as “a unique blend of jazz, Ethiopia, the San Francisco art scene and visceral poetry.” “It paints pictures in your head as you listen,” she adds.
The upstart fashion company Bernos says that it is excited to host Hadero at its upcoming celebration.
“Every year is a milestone for Bernos. We wanted to do something different this year. We are influenced by African arts and music. One can see it reflected throughout our t-shirts, photoshoots and in our blog. It is an honor to have Meklit Hadero perform at our 4th year anniversary,” said Beshou Gedamu, business partner at Bernos. “She is an amazing artist with a powerful voice that resonates. In addition we’ll have Munit and Betty ‘Bsheba’ Tekeste open for her. We are looking forward to a night of musical bliss.”
—
If You Go: The event takes place at the Warehouse loft in Washington D.C. on May 29, 2010. Learn more and buy tickets at Bernos.org.
Listen here to NPR’s Interview with Meklit Hadero:—
New York (Tadias) – Bernos, which we first featured in March 2008, is an upstart clothing company founded by young Ethiopian and Eritrean American entrepreneurs and artists. In recent months, celebrities were spotted sporting the label’s hip tees on media appearances. Earlier this year, a member of the music group started by Somali-born rapper K’naan was seen wearing the Bernos Made in Africashirt in their music video. And today, we discovered another series of videos in our inbox showing Damian Marley, the youngest son of the late reggae legend Bob Marley, wearing one of the company’s inaugural designs Addis Ababa Classic during his interview on Boston’s Hot 97.5 station. Enjoy the videos:
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: March 28, 2008
New York (Tadias) – It all started with a boring job that left graphic designer Nolawi Petros itching to do something artistic.
Designing test booklets for No Child Left Behind at his day job did little to satisfy Petros’ appetite for artistic creation.
“The truth is, I was at a job where I didn’t have a lot of creative things to do,” Nolawi says.
So he decided it was time to launch Bernos, an online t-shirt vending company that now doubles as a sort of virtual Ethiopian community center through an active blog.
He had been kicking around the idea of starting a t-shirt designing and making venture for some time.
“If it works, it works; if doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Petros said at the time, but he thought it was at least worth a try.
It did work.
In May 2005, launched Bernos with three designs: Addis Ababa Classic, a red shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling Coca-Cola’s, an Abebe Bekila shirt, and a shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty much every souk in Ethiopia.
Above:Bernos shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling
Coca-Cola’s. (Photo: Bernos.org).
Above:A shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty
much every neighborhood shop in Ethiopia. (Photo: Bernos.org).
The business is named after the heavy wool cloak that became a status symbol after being introduced to Ethiopia by the Arabs.
“Wearing the Bernos in Ethiopia was a lot like wearing a sheriff’s badge in the American West,” Bernos says on its website.
“Today, anyone can capture and celebrate some of Ethiopia’s history and the status of the Bernos by wearing one of our unique t-shirts.”
And if the fact that they’ve sold out of many of their designs is any indication, the Bernos t-shirt is a status symbol that more than a few people have bought into.
Petros says that for the 13 designs that the website has now, he’s probably designed another 30 that he’s decided to toss out or hold on to for later.
While Petros handles much of the design work, he has business partners handle the other elements of running a business: Dawit Kahsai handles finances, Meron Samuel is the head of marketing and sales, and Beshou Gedamu is Bernos’ t-shirt model and photographer.
So far, the venture has been built on volunteer labor—the partners view their time as their primary investment in the business, Petros says.
The Bernos site gets about 500 hits a day, mostly Abeshas on the East Coast, Petros says, but although the Bernos team are Ethiopians (Dawit Kahsai is Eritrean), they don’t see their venture as an “Abesha” or even an “African” brand.
Most orders do come from major U.S. cities with big Abesha populations: Oakland, Seattle, Washington, DC, and New York City, some order have popped up from more far flung locations—everywhere from Fargo, North Dakota to Mississipi.
Even though they’ve cornered the internet-savvy Abesha market that likes hip T-shirts, Petros says a little number-crunching reveals that market is still pretty small.
“Let’s say there are 500,000 Ethiopians in the U.S.—out of those, 20 percent use the internet, (and of those, some) are into fashion or T-shirts. So, when you think about it, we don’t have a big market,” says Petros.
About 30 percent of the T-shirts go to non-Ethiopians, and Petros says they’re trying to expand that number. That trend has been reflected in the shift in designs from the “Addis Ababa Classic” that launched the site to more recent designs named “Roots,” and “d’Afrique,” which have more pan-African appeal.
Above:Another recent design named “Roots,” which has a more pan-African
appeal. (Photo: Bernos.org).
But Petros says he wants to branch out of that niche too.
“These t-shirts have mass appeal for all black people but also for white people,” Petros said.
With t-shirts that garner a broader following, Bernos hopes their line will eventually be carried by a national clothing chain like Urban Outfitters.
New York (Tadias) – A little over a year ago, on March 28, 2008, we featured an upstart clothing company called Bernos, founded by young Ethiopian and Eritrean entrepreneurs and artists in the United States. And this morning, when we checked our inbox, we discovered an exciting short video in which Rayzak, a member of the Somali-born rapper K’naan’s crew, is shown wearing the Bernos Made in Africa shirt. Enjoy!
Bernos Tees blend hip and culture
By Tadias Staff
New York (Tadias) – It all started with a boring job that left graphic designer Nolawi Petros itching to do something artistic.
Designing test booklets for No Child Left Behind at his day job did little to satisfy Petros’ appetite for artistic creation.
“The truth is, I was at a job where I didn’t have a lot of creative things to do,” Nolawi says.
So he decided it was time to launch Bernos, an online t-shirt vending company that now doubles as a sort of virtual Ethiopian community center through an active blog.
He had been kicking around the idea of starting a t-shirt designing and making venture for some time.
“If it works, it works; if doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Petros said at the time, but he thought it was at least worth a try.
It did work.
In May 2005, launched Bernos with three designs: Addis Ababa Classic, a red shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling Coca-Cola’s, an Abebe Bekila shirt, and a shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty much every souk in Ethiopia.
Above:Bernos shirt with the words “Addis Ababa” written in a font resembling
Coca-Cola’s. (Photo: Bernos.org).
Above:A shirt featuring Desta Keremela, the staple candy brand found in pretty
much every neighborhood shop in Ethiopia. (Photo: Bernos.org).
The business is named after the heavy wool cloak that became a status symbol after being introduced to Ethiopia by the Arabs.
“Wearing the Bernos in Ethiopia was a lot like wearing a sheriff’s badge in the American West,” Bernos says on its website.
“Today, anyone can capture and celebrate some of Ethiopia’s history and the status of the Bernos by wearing one of our unique t-shirts.”
And if the fact that they’ve sold out of many of their designs is any indication, the Bernos t-shirt is a status symbol that more than a few people have bought into.
Petros says that for the 13 designs that the website has now, he’s probably designed another 30 that he’s decided to toss out or hold on to for later.
While Petros handles much of the design work, he has business partners handle the other elements of running a business: Dawit Kahsai handles finances, Meron Samuel is the head of marketing and sales, and Beshou Gedamu is Bernos’ t-shirt model and photographer.
So far, the venture has been built on volunteer labor—the partners view their time as their primary investment in the business, Petros says.
The Bernos site gets about 500 hits a day, mostly Abeshas on the East Coast, Petros says, but although the Bernos team are Ethiopians (Dawit Kahsai is Eritrean), they don’t see their venture as an “Abesha” or even an “African” brand.
Most orders do come from major U.S. cities with big Abesha populations: Oakland, Seattle, Washington, DC, and New York City, some order have popped up from more far flung locations—everywhere from Fargo, North Dakota to Mississipi.
Even though they’ve cornered the internet-savvy Abesha market that likes hip T-shirts, Petros says a little number-crunching reveals that market is still pretty small.
“Let’s say there are 500,000 Ethiopians in the U.S.—out of those, 20 percent use the internet, (and of those, some) are into fashion or T-shirts. So, when you think about it, we don’t have a big market,” says Petros.
About 30 percent of the T-shirts go to non-Ethiopians, and Petros says they’re trying to expand that number. That trend has been reflected in the shift in designs from the “Addis Ababa Classic” that launched the site to more recent designs named “Roots,” and “d’Afrique,” which have more pan-African appeal.
Above: “d’Afrique”, a more recent Bernos design. (Photo: Bernos.org).
Above:Another recent design named “Roots,” which has a more pan-African
appeal. (Photo: Bernos.org).
But Petros says he wants to branch out of that niche too.
“These t-shirts have mass appeal for all black people but also for white people,” Petros said.
With t-shirts that garner a broader following, Bernos hopes their line will eventually be carried by a national clothing chain like Urban Outfitters.
