I recently discovered the work of South African fashion designer Palesa Mokubung and found her designs to be among the most interesting and inspiring I’ve ever seen.

Palesa Mokubung has been designing and making clothes for the better part of her life. When she was only 19 and just out of design school, she worked at the legendary design house Stoned Cherrie and has since then been making her own mark with her label Mantsho, meaning ‘brutally black.’ She was nominated for a South African Art and Culture Award in 2009 and has some of her apparel featured in the Daimler Contemporary Art exhibition in Berlin.

“I am inspired by spirituality, love, sex, war and South Africa – the label has evolved from these concepts,” says Palesa. Designing and manufacturing her own fabrics has been a dream come true and Palesa marks this as one of her most outstanding achievements.¹

iFashion recently featured an interview with Mokubung.

 

 

¹Source: Daimler Art Collection