South Africa: Fashion Meets Fascism

Palesa Mokubung is the designer behind the fashion label Mantsho, which means ”brutally black complexion” in Sesotho.

She is showing her latest ranges in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Mokubung is one of the two fashion designers from Africa who have been invited by Museum Afro Bras il - a museum dedicated to the research, preservation and exhibition of objects related to the cultural universe of black people - to exhibit at Sao Paulo Fashion Week .

Mokubung will be showing both her winter and summer collections.

Her show-stopper is a colourful gown made from 20m of fabric.

After 10 years in the fashion industry, Mokubung said she still felt it was the beginning of her career.

In 2004 she landed the position of head designer for Nkhensani Nkosi’s popular Stoned Cherrie label after she dropped out of university to gain experience in the fashion industry and advance her career.

After a few years she had gained enough knowledge about the local industry to establish her own fashion philosophy and start her own brand.

In 2007, Mantsho was launched. Her collections feature exquisite fabrics that are custom woven by Tie Weavers SA, of Sandton.

”My designs honour my Sotho culture and my personal experience of the way that so many different cultures interact in our society,” she said.

”I want to use fashion to speak about universal issues like the plight of the families of the kidnapped girls in Nigeria.”

Last month the designer, who hails from Kroonstad in the Free State, showed her Spring/ Summer 2015 collection at South African Fashion Week in Johannesburg. It included shirts printed with the words ”Boko Halaal” - a statement against the terrorist group Boko Haram.

”’Boko Haram is usually translated as ‘Western education is forbidden’, while ‘halaal’ translated literally means ‘allowed’,” she said.

Mokubung said her label was not just about fashion,but also served a higher purpose.

”I don’t know what that is yet or where it’s going to lead me next, I just know I want each collection to always have a message.”

She said she expected to be inspired by the colour and energy of Brazil, and we look forward to seeing the vibrancy of South America reflected in her next collection.