Young fashion designer sets her eyes on Alex market

Being born in a small township called Meadowlands in Soweto did not stop Yolanda Dlodlo (18) from achieving her dream of being a fashion designer.

Yolanda, who has marketing interests in Alexandra, as she intends to promote her brand by opening a branch in the iconic township, did not attend any fashion school – she used a computer at home to practise how to design.

Her passion for fashion started when she was a little girl and when she was at matric in 2023, her classmates asked her to design their matric jacket though it was not approved.

“I was excited when my classmates asked me to design our matric jacket but, unfortunately, it was not approved. That did not take away my interest in fashion and luckily my sister asked me to design a hoodie for Rhodes University.

“This then kick-started my ambitions again and that is when I realised that something little can change someone’s thoughts when it comes to designing,” she explains.

“I create kasi brands that include females because in townships people have the mentality that only boys can create kasi brands so I want to remove that mentality from people’s minds and I want to show them that girls can also be kasi brand owners,” she added.

Yolanda’s project began with a fun conversation she had with her friend Fatima, who wanted to start her brand. These two came up with the idea of using Yolanda’s designs and Fatima’s thoughts to create something that would be in the interest of the youth and used their gap year as an opportunity to create this brand.

Things went sour for Yolanda as she needed funding to grow her project, and money to buy material but that did not stop her from achieving her goal because she believed that at the end of every tunnel, there is light and that failing is part of learning.

Yolanda said what keeps her going is the words she was told by her Xitsonga teacher Ndlopfu a yi fi hi rimbambu ri nwe which meant that a person does not give up after only one problem and giving up is never a solution.

Yolanda shared words of advice to the youth who want to start their fashion projects that they should make it happen; they should not be afraid of failing because that dream was implanted in their heart for a reason, and just because it will take time does not mean it will not happen.

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