KaBokweni fashionista makes 28 outfits to inspire upcoming designers
Local fashion designer Tshepo Nkosi said the aim of the Production Fashion Show is to motivate upcoming designers not to give up on their talent.
Despite challenges faced by most upcoming businesses due to the effects of load-shedding and the lack of proper equipment, a self-taught fashion designer and owner of Elegance Face of Fashion, Tshepo Nkosi, continues to make a living through his craft.
Nkosi, from KaBokweni, has managed to make 28 outfits for the Production Fashion Show on June 28.
It aims to encourage and give upcoming local designers the opportunity to showcase their clothes.
According to Nkosi, even though he uses small machines for production, which makes it difficult to produce a lot of outfits at a time due to load-shedding, he wanted to motivate other designers to work hard too, so they can meet the deadline and join him on stage.
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“The challenges we face as young designers is funding. Another challenge is the lack of support within our areas. It is hard to grow our businesses when there is no community buy-in and support. This fashion show will prove to people that we all have different styles and taste and we all need to be comfortable and embrace our uniqueness. This will also help fashion designers who are in need of clientele to grow their brands.”
He said young people in this community do not have the proper infrastructure and resources to fund their dreams, and he is one of them. “They end up giving up on their dreams of becoming professional, successful designers or entrepreneurs. They also end up abusing alcohol and drugs,” Nkosi added.
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His love of fashion started in high school in 2016. He said after falling in love with designing, he knew it was the only thing he wanted to do. “I knew I had the talent, especially for drawing, because I would draw cars and houses. I later started to draw clothes and sneakers, and this is when I realised that I wanted to be a fashion designer. I would share my designs on social media and would receive many responses from people requesting that I make garments for them. This included local artists and members of the community.”
He said his favourite designer is Lakau Sehoane, the Drip owner who has become an overnight success in the fashion industry.
