Fashion: Mantsho returns to South African Fashion Week SS2011

Mantsho [South Africa]

[Image credit: Spring/Summer 2011 with Beloved Beadwork Adornment – Mantsho]

The previous post mentioned the collaboration between Beloved Beadwork and Mantsho who made a welcome return to the South African Fashion Week catwalk following a hiatus that creator and designer Palesa Mokubung attributes to a lack of inspiration; using the time instead to recharge and learn about the business side of fashion. Palesa describes this period as ‘scary’ and going through the same thing myself I am acutely aware of how she feels; it takes a lot to down tools on something that in a way is an extension, an expression of you.

Passionate about fashion from a young age Palesa honed her design skills at renowned fashion house Stoned Cherrie rising to become the company’s top designer before leaving to form her own company Mantsho which translates as ‘Brutally Black’ in 2004. The success of her initial collections provided the opportunity to showcase her designs internationally including having her designs as part of the Daimler Contemporary Art exhibition in Berlin and at the Annual Fashion Forward International Thessaloniki show in Greece.

[Image credits: Spring/Summer 2011 featuring Beloved Beadwork Adornment – Mantsho]

Noted for being one of South Africa’s highly innovative fashion-forward designers; Mantsho fuses genre’s like punk, avant-garde and Afro-chic into creations sought after by some of the region’s most stylish women.

[Image credit: Spring/Summer 2011 featuring Beloved Beadwork Adornment – Mantsho]

…all at once feminine, bold and edgy; Mantsho is ‘Afro-space-Age’ chic as defined by one fashion journalist  Additional details:
For further information on Mantsho visit: www.ifashion.co.za; and
www.safashionweek.co.za