Limpopo sisters to double stitch their way into the industry
With the dream of one day having their names recognised worldwide, twins and business partners, Neo and Dineo Pheme from Moletjie, Ga Semenya outside Polokwane, founded the Issah Tour clothing line.
POLOKWANE – In February the young designers launched their clothing line, an idea which was inspired by their late father who loved sowing and embroidery. “We learned a lot from him while watching him work. Sometimes he would sit us one by one on his lap so that we get a closeup of the machine working and running and we would imitate him by sowing and mending our own clothes with needles (hand sowing),” they told Review.
The 20-year old’s competed their Gr 12 in 2016 but because of financial constraints, could not afford to further their studies. “We tried to apply for bursaries and financial assistance but to no avail,” said Neo.
They never stopped dreaming big and did not let this deter them from their dream. It was then that they decided to start using the machine their father had used to make outfits for themselves. “We wore them on random occasions and to our surprise people started asking us where we bought our clothes. After we revealed to them that we had designed and made the outfits ourselves, they asked us to make clothing for them. We immediately saw an opportunity for growth and our business was born,” added Dineo.
The duo said that they acquire their extra fashion knowledge and design skills through the internet. They named their clothing line after their father’s second name, “Issah” which in full reads ‘Issah Tour’, to embrace the name and grow his legacy.
“Our vision is to design cloth which are accessible, affordable and of great quality for our clients.
Issah Tour will maintain a modern tailoring facility in South Africa, aiming to ensure that they satisfy their clients’ needs, as well as possible business partners in the future. Our target market is the youth who love to stand out and be unique.
