It was a great privilege to work under Sir David Adjaye, and it really informed my practice. I always knew I was more interested in fashion, but I wasn’t sure how to approach it. So textiles became a really powerful medium for me to work with and build my craft with.

Central St Martins was an incredible institution to attend. It opened my eyes up to the world of design that was very thoughtful and inspiring. In essence my time at St Martins was spent trying to discover my point of view. Through the lecturers and the staff, they really supported us in find our own unique story telling, to harness our lens and our way of making work that is very personal.

The LVMH Prize was very transformative, I went from being a small unknown brand in Cape Town to actually being invited to so many exciting opportunities. It was the real game changer for us, and the mentorship programmer under Sophie Brocart was everything our brand needed. It included having leaders in the industry speaking to us on a weekly basics about everything from PR to Logistics. LVMH also led to us being seen by Net -a-Porter and then in the end, invited onto the Vanguard programme which has also been such a tremendously supportive programme to be a part of, and learning from a major retailer like Net-a-Porter about the how to structure ones business and how to grow a brand has been a hugely valuable experience. I am very grateful for both experiences.

On the contrary, I find textiles such a wonderful medium to communicate with. You can talk about anything with a print, and it’s such a powerful craft. I just want to continue to grow my craft and tell more stories of the black African experience.

I choose muses based on a my instinct and my heart. For a long time, I have been researching the transatlantic slave trade and it has always been something I wanted to speak about. Telling the stories of women like Harriet Tubman and Sarah Forbes Bonnetta for me ensure that they never become myths but are women who will go down in history as brave, powerful women who survived the greatest oppression. I also feel they are such inspirations. I sometimes think “If Harriet Tubman can save 70 slaves in her lifetime, I too can get through anything.”

Community has been an intrinsic part of the brand. I come from a place with a huge poverty and huge talent. I guess for me it is a bout joining those dots and having young women who had come from difficult situations come and work for us. They learn from us and we also learn from them, it is my life’s work and my true joy. I don’t think our brand would exist without it being able to serve the communities it works with.

It’s not been easy. Especially in South African where we have very limited access to textiles. For us having sustainable materials as a constant feature across the collection is very important. We have more recently collaborated with sustainable textile manufacturer Circular Systems, who make textiles from a combination of recycled cotton and organic waste. In our latest collection we have used this fabric for trench coats and dresses. Its been a wonderful collaboration and also meant that we can access some of the best sustainable materials on offer.

A lot has changed, I think that the care for ones clothing has been a big one. We really want to make pieces that are heirlooms. That are treasured. So that in a sense ties into creating a sustainable product that has longevity in it to us and appeal. I was handed down many beautiful pieces from my grandmother who was a pattern cutter and machinist. I am grateful to have these pieces and I believe that I want to make clothes that have the same robustness and also feel treasured by the wearer.

Looking at the mountain today, you will see bright yellow wild flowers growing next to the black ashen trunks. This is echoed in the collection featuring bright hand embroidery, pink hand woven suiting, bold hand screen printed silks and ceramic buttons. I wanted to tell the story of hope coming from a very dark time, a bit like living in covid. There has been so much loss, but we must still hang onto hope. Many of the colours also come from the CMYK colour palette which was inspired by artist Githan Coopoo who guest art directed this collection.

Many photographs and political posters were lost in the fire. It was important for us to document them in the dresses and also to document important figures of history like Charlotte Maxeke. Snalo and I have been working together for two seasons, she truly understands our narrative and is just a joy to work with. I feel supremely grateful for the opportunity to have her onboard for another season.

There is a lot going on, it’s been a supremely busy year. I think in essence I want to just take time to focus on creating work that is of relevance. I do take a lot of time thinking about muses and what the collection focus will be, it's just a part of a bigger journey of making. Grateful to all the collaborators who have been part of this journey with me. We truly are a village.