Tsholanang Mathibe never let her humble upbringing come in the way of her big dreams designing for the rich and famous in South Africa.



Picture this. Somewhere in Kanana, a rural village in the innards of South Africa’s North West province, a young girl takes a break from a routine day out playing in the fields with her friends, and accidentally leafs through the fashion pages of a glossy magazine, awe-struck by the style and design aesthetics of the big city. And she plans her life in that one moment.&nbsp;



Today, at 29, Tsholanang Mathibe is a fashion entrepreneur and founder of Blackmarble Designs in South Africa’s capital Pretoria, designing for brides and businesswomen, but still recalling that day in the sun when life shone her career path.



“I’ve never seen myself doing anything else from the age of nine,” says Mathibe.



The coronavirus-induced economic downturn in South Africa has no doubt affected her business as well, but it is a good time to reflect on how far she has come, and how much farther she wants to go.



“Lockdown has affected business greatly because most of our clients get garments done to attend special events. With [not many of those events happening], people are sceptical [about] purchasing costumed clothing,” she says.



Mathibe is now fashioning face-masks and recently rented out a wedding gown for a private ceremony.



Her formative years were tough. After high school, she moved to Pretoria for a B.Tech in Fashion Design at the Tshwane University of Technology. It was not easy adjusting to life in the city and the challenges of higher education. She even briefly mulled switching careers to deejaying, but her mother motivated her to stay the course.



“The fashion journey is tough, and the fact that people don’t talk about that side of the industry baffles me, because when I was in high school, I thought it was all glitz and&nbsp; glamor, until I got to varsity.”



When it came to finally starting her own business and choosing a name for her brand, she harked back to her maths classes in school, when her teacher, in discussing numbers, always referred to marbles.



Mathibe used it in conjunction with black, her favorite color, and Blackmarble Designs was born.



The maths teacher had also shown interest in the young creative that Mathibe was and arranged for her to meet with fashion designer, Ephraim Molingoane of Ephymol, a menswear fashion label.



Blackmarble was registered in 2013 when she was still in her final year, and commenced operations in 2014.



“I was helped by the fact that I won an industrial sewing machine for a fashion range I had produced during my third year, when students showcase their work. I won the best innovation award. That helped me start my business.”



In the first year of operation, Mathibe was working out of her aunt’s backroom in Soweto, sleeping alongside her equipment and waking up to work all day or night.



“I spent most of my time in that room doing mostly ready-to-wear garments to showcase and sell at social markets between Johannesburg and Cape Town. A client then referred South Africa’s popular radio deejay, DJ Sabby, to me. He needed an outfit for the J&amp;B MET. That was my first celebrity client,” she recalls.



The following year, she moved back to Pretoria to live with her partner. Business was picking up and she enjoyed making bespoke outfits rather than ready-to-wear. She also started promoting the brand online to reach a wider audience; things were getting better and the business had momentum.



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“I am still using my home as my studio, and in 2019, the business got its first bridal client and since then, that was the market we were mostly [focusing] on before the lockdown,” she says.



Her first client for a bridal outfit was Lindiwe Sibiloane, who had seen a matric dance garment that Mathibe had designed.



“I was looking for something very similar to that [matric dance garment]; then I asked her to do a bridal gown, and she did it. I am still happy about it, everyone was raving about that dress; they still are,” says Sibiloane.



Mathibe’s bridal gowns cost upwards of $1,000.



So far, Blackmarble Designs has also dressed FORBES AFRICA 30 Under 30 alumna such as South African actor Thuso Mbedu and Reabetswe Ngwane, co-founder and MD of Kreamfields, who incidentally, Mathibe has known from primary school.



Mathibe dressed Ngwane for the glamorous Veuve Clicquot Masters Polo social event in 2019.



“I told her I needed a dress. I gave her a brief the week of the event. I sent her a few pictures I had seen on Pinterest. A few days later, the dress was done to the ‘T’ and didn’t need any adjustments, save for a button,” says Ngwane.



Somewhere in Kanana, a young girl must be reading this article now and being suitably inspired, just like Mathibe had been, all those years ago.&nbsp;

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A Day In The Fields, A Lifetime In Fashion

Some of the best looks in Beyoncé’s new feature film, Black is King, have come from designers from the African continent.



Beyoncé Knowles-Carter’s brand-new new visual album Black is King that released on July 31 on Disney Plus, boasts an African touch, with many designers from the continent showcasing their work in it.



Out just a little over a year since the release of the live-action version of The Lion King where Beyoncé played the female lead, Nala, it was originally filmed as a companion piece to The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack, but the singer explains in a post on Instagram that the events of 2020 (specifically, the Black Lives Movement protesting police brutality in the United States) have made the message in the film more relevant.



For the “passion project”, Beyoncé spent over a year filming, researching, and editing it as a love letter to celebrate the breadth and beauty of black ancestry. &nbsp;



“I believe that when black people tell our own stories, we can shift the axis of the world and tell our REAL history of generational wealth and richness of soul that are not told in our history books,” Beyoncé says in a post on Instagram.



Since its release, she has been praised for how she celebrated people of color as a whole in her visual album through the representation of artists (like Pharrell Williams, Naomi Campbell and Lupita Nyongo), background dancers, and black and African designers.



One of those African designers is Lafalaise Dion, based in the economic capital of Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, Abidjan, who designed the shell headpieces seen throughout Black is King.



“Although I had a big vision for [my work], and the faith that I’d be able to take it far beyond Côte D’Ivoire, I never imagined I would get to this level in such a short time,” says Dion.



Also basking in the glory of the recent success of the film is Abidjan-born designer, Loza Maléombho, who designed a piece dubbed by Harper’s Bazaar as one of the best looks in the visual album.&nbsp;



The graphic, black-and-white ensemble with gold hardware worn in the film has already become an iconic piece as it has received much praise from social media.



The ode to African fashion continues even in these Covid times. Watch this space for more.

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King And Queen: Beyoncé Takes African Fashion To The World

Charles Oronsaye started out with a career in law and music before the fashion business, and is now painstakingly growing his brand to craft couture for all Africans.  



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Charles Oronsaye chose fashion as a career not because he was passionate about it, but simply because he didn’t want to become a lawyer. A rebel since his early years, he tried his hand at various professions, including music. 



“I wanted to prove to my parents that I was not a good for nothing,” says Oronsaye. 



And that is exactly what he did. His original dream was to study in Malaysia but due to his parents’ break-up, an outcome of financial misfortune, Oronsaye had to find other ways to make ends meet.



“My dad wanted me to go into the sciences but I never liked it because I was more interested in the arts. My dad said if I was going to the arts, I should go to the apex, which is why I studied law at the University of Benin. I wanted to explore three things: music, law and computer science.” 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;I saved a little and with my uncle&#8217;s money, I decided I was going to start a fashion business, but I didn&#8217;t know how.</blockquote>



Music turned out to be his first love. Oronsaye created his
alter ego, Tony Cream, and began taking part in music competitions and even got
shortlisted as a finalist to be an MTV video jockey. The popularity he gained
from his creative endeavors landed him a gig on the local radio station where
he began to leverage his position as an intern to make ends meet while still
pursuing a law degree at university. 



“I got exploited on the radio. I was not getting paid because there was a culture that you don’t get paid as an intern and I worked there for two years without being paid,” says Oronsaye. 



But what he lost in earnings, he gained in a strong fan
following. With an audience of about 5,000 followers on Blackberry Messenger at
the time, Oronsaye decided to monetize his platform. His opportunity came when
his uncle gave him N100,000 ($276) to complete his final year at university.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2019/10/02/owning-the-african-narrative/">Owning The African Narrative</a>



“Growing up, I still had a sense of fashion. I could tweak everything I saw to my style and people would love it. I understood early that almost all ideas are not original. I saved a little and with my uncle’s money, I decided I was going to start a fashion business, but I didn’t know how.”



The plan was simple. Oronsaye noticed there was a need for
personalization in the fashion industry. He knew that fueled by social media
and the Generation Z effect, luxury was rapidly becoming not about what you
have, but who you are, and all that helps you project that image. 



Buyers in 2010 no longer wanted monogrammed collections of
expensive things, but instead, unique pieces that offered them exclusivity.
Thus, Tony Cream Fashion was born. Oronsaye’s idea was thus: “So, I will go to
the market and ask ‘who is the best person here’, and I say ‘this is my idea,
can you do this for me’ and they say ‘ok’. I would ask ‘how much will they
charge and I will double the price on the one condition, that ‘you will train
me also’.” 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="637" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-1024x637.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42435" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-1024x637.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-300x187.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-600x373.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-768x478.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1-1536x955.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7938-1.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



With over 5,000 contacts, Oronsaye had no need for a physical store. He would simply take the photos of his new creations and post them online, and the orders would come thick and fast.



“I started making money and kept developing from the online
base to real-time base. People began to know me but people needed to have a
brick-and-mortar place where they could find me. I couldn’t do it in Benin so I
needed to go to a place where I could flourish, so I moved to Lagos,” says
Oronsaye.



Lagos is currently one of the most exciting fashion
destinations in Africa, with the likes of Michelle Obama, Solange, Beyoncé and
Lupita Nyong’o all supporting Nigerian designers. 



To thrive in this competitive environment, Oronsaye had to
create a bigger vision. And Africana Couture was born.



“So, I took my iPad and my [photo] collection that I shot myself, and I would go to luxury hotels like Sheraton and Oriental, and I would approach everybody I met that I felt was my ideal client. When I approached them, I would say ‘hey, this is what I make’. Of every ten people, five would give me their cards and three would order and maybe two or one out of empathy, would make an advance payment to just support me.”



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2019/10/31/conscious-fashion-so-much-more-you-can-do-with-discarded-clothes/">Conscious Fashion: ‘So Much More You Can Do With Discarded Clothes’</a>



His formula worked and soon, people began to talk about Oronsaye’s products. The business, which began on Blackberry Messenger, is today on course to become an established Nigerian fashion brand with the opening of its flagship retail store in Abuja.



“We are launching our Africana X which will be the Africana experience store. Because couture is quite expensive, I built a brand of kaftan that’s more affordable but without the same level of detailing&#8230; The goal is to build stores across Africa and change the narrative, which is clothes for Africans by Africans,” says Oronsaye. 



Pieces are from $400 for a bespoke kaftan and Oronsaye has
added new creations including an innerwear line as well as his own fabrics. But
the journey has not been easy. 



Like many industries in Nigeria, Oronsaye is plagued by the
power crisis as well as a lack of technical knowhow in the sector and negative
consumer behavior.



“The average African will give value to Gucci and Zara
because they come from overseas but then when it comes to you, because they can
see your label, they begin to devalue you.” 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="803" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-803x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-42436" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-803x1024.jpg 803w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-300x382.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-600x765.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-235x300.jpg 235w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-768x979.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1-1205x1536.jpg 1205w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_7913-1.jpg 1506w" sizes="(max-width: 803px) 100vw, 803px" /></figure>



In spite of all these challenges, Oronsaye is more
determined to provide quality products with a global vision.



“Africana means Africa is beyond the jungle of lions and
mountains. “Africa is a spirit. I chose Africana because I have a vision to
clothe Africa in the long run.”&nbsp;

Photo Credit George Okoro1

Haute And Happening

Many people talk about South Africa’s Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba and his shiny tailored suits – few know they are designed by an African and made by an Italian. They are the work of designer, Linda Makhanya.
<blockquote>
I am well aware that the branding of Italy and London are stronger than the branding of Africa because they’ve invested a lot in their craftsmanship and it goes through generations. They’ve mastered their arts of craftsmanship, that’s why they are the world’s best
</blockquote>
When we meet Makhanya at the Marion on Nicol Hotel, in Sandton, he’s sporting a well-fitted grey suit he designed himself. “When I stand in the mirror I feel like nothing is impossible, like success is my potion and that I deserve the best just by wearing a suit,” says Makhanya.
The 31-year- old Makhanya started LM Tailored Suit in 2012 and has been flourishing ever since. He sells up to 50 suits a month. His clients include the Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula and Bheki Cele, South Africa’s former head of police. He now wants to design suits for women in boardrooms.
Makhanya says he used to wear his suits every day in Sandton, Africa’s richest square mile, and it led to a chance encounter in 2011.
“I met a guy through a friend and I was wearing a suit. He complimented me. He gave me his business card, I contacted him and told him that I am going to give him the best clothes that are not in this country, and for us to start I need R50,000 ($3,900). It was enough to source clothes and buy more stock to sell. Then the money started coming,” says Makhanya.
It hasn’t stopped since then.

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Meet The Man Behind Gigaba’s Shiny Suits

Every time Nicole Amarteifio turned on primetime television in Ghana, she struggled to find a character she could identify with. A character who was a strong, black, college-educated woman born in Ghana and raised in America, just like her.
Amarteifio soon found she was not alone in her thinking; other women she knew also shared her sentiments, tired of seeing African women playing supporting roles on TV or nothing at all.
And then, one day, watching re-runs of Sex and the City, the popular American TV series, the idea hit Amarteifio: why not create an African version of the show?
Thus was born An African City, a YouTube web series following the lives of five women who, after years abroad, return to Ghana.
“African women, for so long, have been told that they are invisible, it [was] important to have a show that screams out: ‘Not true! You are visible and I see you’,” says Amarteifio.
She drew on her own life for inspiration. At a young age, her family had relocated from Ghana to New York. Her father wanted the family to experience ‘the American dream’ as he once had as a student at Wesleyan University, Connecticut.
But life in The Big Apple was not easy. “I grew up in a neighborhood where I was often the only black child in my entire class, which meant often having a swarm of white faces that would look at me when subjects such as black crime in the inner city or name-a-disease on the African continent came up.”
She decided she was going to find out what it meant, for her, to be black.
When her maternal grandmother visited the family in New York, she would enlighten her with stories from her life in Ghana as Queen Chief in the town of Akuapem in the Eastern Region.
“She would tell me stories about her Caucasian husband who worked for the British colonial government&#8230; my grandparents’ interracial marriage was among one of the first documented interracial marriages in West Africa,” she says.
Amarteifio looked forward to summer holidays in Accra where she would immerse herself in the culture.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-29610" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-060-061-An-African-city-003-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-060-061-An-African-city-003-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-060-061-An-African-city-003-300x451.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-060-061-An-African-city-003.jpg 426w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
cars in africa?
“After a while, I was less interested in ‘the American dream’ of my parents [and] more interested in what ‘the African dream’ could mean for me and my peers.”
After a bachelor’s degree in African Studies from Brandeis University, in Waltham, Massachusetts, she relocated to Ghana where she worked in various companies, hoping to change the way African women were portrayed in the media. But a career in media didn’t satisfy her; she felt she could impact more people with TV.
In the first episode of My African City, Amarteifio depicts a situation many Africans can relate to. When Nana Yaa (played by actress MaameYaa Boafo) proudly gives her Ghanaian passport to the immigration officer, he responds saying: “You’re Ghanaian? You don’t look or sound like a Ghanaian.”
“There are so many of us who have left and have returned, but we are no less African. I will not be marginalized and I will not be told who I am&#8230;rather, let me tell you who I am,” says Amarteifio.
Since its debut in March 2014, An African City has resonated with many people around the world. But the show has had many challenges.
Initially Amarteifio struggled to convince investors and TV networks to buy into the concept. She invested $1,000 from her savings into the series, and cut costs by using YouTube to broadcast her show.
“There are certainly some people from the West who watch the show and say, ‘Wait? They have cars in Africa?’ My series is about showing the Africa they never show you.”
As the series, now shooting its third season, gains success, Amarteifio hopes people will start to see Africa in a positive light, highlighting success stories.
“There are flaws in the ‘Africa Rising’ rhetoric, but I would take that rhetoric over the ‘Dark Continent’ message any day,” she says.

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‘We Are No Less African’

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-5906" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-horde-002-95x300.jpg" alt="" width="95" height="300" />Recognition for African fashion is finally going beyond leopard spots and zebra stripes. For his spring collection in 2011, veteran American designer Michael Kors took models straight from a Serengeti safari to the high streets of the world’s fashion capitals. Months later, Japanese design house Kenzo unveiled a 2012 spring/summer collection that turned Europe’s fashionistas into Masai warriors – if only for a day.
Soon other European and American haute couture designers followed suit, and the bright colors and bold patterns of African cloth found their way on to the runways of Paris, Milan and New York City.
Fashion has always had a love affair with ethnic art, but that fascination has tended to be fickle. Designers move from flowery Mexican embroidered motifs to architectural Japanese kimono silhouettes as smoothly as the seasons change.
While the applause from the front rows of fashion shows means big profits for designers and retailers, the disapproval from the ethnic groups used as unwitting muses continues to grow.
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In 2011, the Navajo Nation issued a cease-and-desist order to American retail giant Urban Outfitters. The company was ordered to remove the word ‘Navajo’ from a line of clothing and accessories that included a coffee flask, underwear and costume jewelry.
The Native American tribe has legally established at least 10 trademarks to ensure that its proud heritage is no longer used outside the traditional context.
“When products that have absolutely no connection to the Navajo Nation… are marketed and retailed under the guise that they are Navajo in origin, the Navajo Nation does not regard this as benign or trivial,” Brian Lewis, an attorney for the tribe, told the Associated Press at the time.
Trademarking the humble kanga, however, may prove to be more difficult. Tailors whose painstaking work on traditional African garments has been passed down through generations may find it more challenging to take ownership of their designs.
African fashion may be a burgeoning trade but dismissing it as a cottage industry would be a mistake. Prized beyond designers’ ability to repurpose customary cloths in modern shapes, the continent’s textile industry is worth $400 billion. And it is expected to grow by 25% come 2020, making it a prime opportunity for African designers to take advantage of local materials.
But accessing markets on the continent remains a challenge and that’s where Johannesburg-based investor Samuel Mensah noticed a prime business opportunity.
A regular traveler, Mensah would often buy pieces of fabric for friends and family as he crisscrossed the continent. But he soon realized his gifts were collecting dust as people had little time to seek out a tailor. Thus the idea of an online ready-to-wear African clothing store was born.
Named after the Kiswahili word meaning ‘garment, suit or a well-dressed person’, e-commerce site Kisua launched in August 2013.
Mensah had found his creative director in Danica Lepen, already a force to be reckoned with in the South African fashion industry. Lepen is the co-founder of acclaimed cult label Black Coffee and the former creative director of South African high-street brand, Marion and Lindie.
“We recognized that although there is a lot of creative talent on the continent, there are many obstacles which prevent designers from going on to access the international markets,” says Mensah.
“What we aim to do is provide great quality garments at the same time as giving designers the means to be seen and heard, and the chance to make money too. We provide a commercial platform that helps them grow and open doors for them that may otherwise remain closed.”
The online boutique offers unique collections from 10 up-and-coming designers. Working with Lepen’s creative team, the designers created Kisua’s inaugural collection of African print dresses. They range in style and cut from 50s flare and A-line to pencil skirts and drawstring shirt dresses.
“It’s been a really interesting process. We’re really happy with the outcome because I think we’ve stayed true to the designers’ aesthetics and integrity but at the same time we have a consistent Kisua signature threaded through all the collections, which is about keeping the clothes modern, wearable and to a high quality standard,” Lepen enthuses.
Kisua’s business model is structured so that the designers do not shoulder the manufacturing costs. They receive a cut of every item sold as well as an additional compensation.
“We are trying to break the mold. We want the creative people of this continent to help us shape the new African aesthetic,” says Lepen. The e-commerce site not only acts as a storefront for international customers in 150 countries, it is also trying to position itself as a back office for a collective of designers.
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Along with the manufacturing and distribution capabilities, Kisua also exposes young designers to industry experts. These include renowned tailor and designer Ozwald Boateng; former CEO of textile company Vlisco, Joop van der Meij; and the founder of Lagos Fashion Week, Omoyemi Akerele. All three sit on Kisua’s board.
Many promising African designers wait for the invitation to showcase their wares on the fringes of international fashion weeks, hoping to attract a buyer who will convince retailers to carry their labels.
While e-commerce doesn’t have the glamour and spectacle of a fashion week, initiatives with integrity and vision like Kisua mean new des-igners are only a click away from a growing customer base and direct financial benefit.

Tag: African Fashion

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

A Day In The Fields, A Lifetime In Fashion

King And Queen: Beyoncé Takes African Fashion To The World

Haute And Happening

Meet The Man Behind Gigaba’s Shiny Suits

‘We Are No Less African’

Turning textile trends into an online clothing empire