(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Palesa Mokubung’s career in fashion design started in 2000, when she walked into Stoned Cherrie, a boutique in Johannesburg, and her outfit—one Mokubung had designed herself—quickly caught the attention of the owner. She went to work for Stoned Cherrie almost immediately. Four years later, Mokubung launched her own line, called Mantsho. The idea, she says, was to create a “solid African fashion brand,” one that could “represent Africa and South Africa, globally.”
On Aug. 15, Mokubung, 38, became the first African designer to collaborate with Swedish retailer H&M, with a collection that includes dresses, tops, bottoms, and accessories available online and selected stores globally.
Karen Toulon first spoke with the fashion designer in Johannesburg in the spring, before the birth of Mokubung’s first child, a daughter. They spoke again two days before Mantsho’s H&M debut.
How has the H&M deal and the global exposure already affected your business?
I just gave a talk at an entrepreneur’s summit, on how to start and grow your business. So I am seen as a female role model in the fashion industry now. I don't think that was the case prior. That’s quite a position because we don’t have leading black females in the fashion industry in South Africa. There are women who make beautiful clothes, but they are sort of in the background, like I was. So it is really nice to give voice to female designers, and to females who are actually buying the clothes.
What have you learned about the business of fashion and about retail since signing on with H&M?
I consider myself to be a pretty organized person. I have my goals, and I have my plans. But the unfolding of the H&M campaign has shown me how far ahead one has to plan for big ventures in their lives. Some things we discussed in January are unfolding right now. I remember the window displays. We were chatting about them in the first meeting with the entire team in Sweden. They presented a couple of options for the windows, and we picked elements from different ones to put together for the final look and feel. I got to see them come alive last week. There is also the element of readiness. I had to be organized and ready—physically, mentally, and otherwise. And when I say ready, I’ve had to have outfits for all the interviews; that has not been easy, even though I’m a fashion designer.
What kinds of decisions did you find yourself having to make, given the H&M deal?
I was making decisions about where to produce—in China or in India—seeing the quality from China and the quality from India, and deciding on the quality of the embroidery and hearing the story behind it. There are the fabrics: That decision makes all the difference, in the colors, in the width of the fabric, how thick it should be, the scale of the print. Should we put the stripe at the top or the bottom? Do we need a button, a zip? Do we need to line it? That’s amazing, right? We had a “one centimeter” conversation by email, back and forth. Is it one or 1.2?
What’s your favorite item in the line?
It changes all the time. Every time I speak to someone, I have a new piece. I have a couple: I love the coat, I love the skirt.
How would you describe the African aesthetic?
It’s in our fabric, bold prints, and bold shapes. It’s about mixing prints. It’s about being unapologetically large in your presentation. It’s about wearing a three-piece suit with three different prints. It’s an attitude as well. You can wear an all-black kaftan and still feel African.
How do you ensure that your designs remain yours and that you won’t have to conform to some industry notion of what’s fashionable, or what’s African?
Some people talk about Africa as if it is only an aesthetic. Africa is a feeling in your soul. It is intangible. You cannot touch it. You cannot finish it. You cannot end it. It is not going anywhere.
And your understanding and your experience of what that is can be different for everybody. The aesthetic is beautiful, it’s almost like the end product. But the feeling is not anything that can end, It is just everlasting.
So do I worry that I will become something that will be mocked? No, I do not worry about the African aesthetic. I can see that it is being celebrated more than used to be. I can see that in the forefront. I can see that it’s changing, and I’m happy about that. I love it. But I’m not jealous about it because I know how strong it is. Once Africa catches you, you’ve got to lean into it.
Diversity continues to be an issue for many industries—including fashion. Back in 2004, you named your label Mantsho, or “Black Is Beautiful” in your native Sesotho language. In 2019, does that name still have the same meaning or does it take on a deeper meaning?
I think it is amazing to me how relevant it is now. When I was younger, I might have embodied it aesthetically, but as I have matured and grown in the industry and as the label has evolved, I have come to embody it a little bit more deeply.
I really wanted to have a label that could remind me—that could remind everyone in case somebody wanted us to forget—how beautiful we are just because we are. Just because we exist. I wanted to have that attitude of unapologetic black, proud, stern, confident in the way that I design, in the way that I work, in the way that I approach the women that I saw, in the way I run my business, the way that I present myself, in the way that I am accepted. That message is very important to my soul—it is fire to my soul.
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