Palesa Mokubung is a South African fashion designer. She is the founder and creative director of the Mantsho, a South African Fashion Label. She is the first African designer to collaborate with the Swedish fashion company H&M to create a collection.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Early years and education

edit

Mokubung was born in Kroonstad, Free State. In 2014 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fashion Design from Vanderbijlpark Technical College.[1][2][8][7]

Career

edit

Mokubung completed her fashion schooling in 2000 and began working as an in-house designer at Stoned Cherrie, a local fashion brand.[1] After working there for three years she left to enter a design competition, S’camto Groundbreakers. When she won the competition she travelled to New York and Mumbai for six months and there she showed her first solo range. She established the Mantsho label, which means black is beautiful, in 2004.[3][2][4] In that same year, she designed her first solo collection, which was shown at the 8th annual South Africa Fashion Week.[9][8] Her brand has featured on numerous runways including Greece, India, USA, Jamaica, Nigeria, Botswana and Senegal. In October 2018 she showed her collection at the BRICS show, along with designers from Brazil, Russia, India, and China.[10][2]

Personal life

edit

She is a mother of one child.[1]

Awards and recognitions

edit
  • 2011 - Mokubung was nominated for South African Art and Culture Award[10]
  • 2009 - She was again nominated for the Mercedes-Benz Award for South African Art and Culture 2009 Fashion Design[10]
  • She won the 73rd Annual Fashion Forward International Thessaloniki Show held in Greece[10]
  • 2014 - She won a Fashion and Innovation Award at the Mbokoko Women in the Arts Awards[10][8]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d "What I have learnt: Mantsho's Palesa Mokubung on her H&M collaboration". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Africa, This is (29 August 2019). "H&M partners with South African designer Palesa Mokubung in first ever collaboration with an African designer". This is africa. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b Marshall, Rhodé (22 April 2019). "Newsmaker: Palesa Mokubung makes history as first African designer to collaborate with H&M". CityPress. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b US, FashionNetwork com. "H&M teams up with designer Palesa Mokubung for new collection". FashionNetwork.com. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  5. ^ "First African designer to collaborate with H&M". BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Meet Palesa Mokubung, The First African Designer To Collaborate With H&M". Essence. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Meet the South African Fashion Designer Behind the Mantsho x H&M Collection". OkayAfrica. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  8. ^ a b c Karen, Carol (1 October 2019). "The fascinating life story of Palesa Mokubung: age, family, H&M & Instagram". Briefly. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Palesa Mokubung | TVSA". www.tvsa.co.za. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e "MANTSHO: "BRUTALLY BLACK" FASHION BRAND FROM SA!". www.spellbrand.com. Retrieved 15 December 2019.