Katleho Mokoena, a 28-year-old young man from Palmridge, Alberton is a fashion designer. He is the founder of GDzyn (pronounced as Gee Design) Fashion House and describes himself as a fashion designer who’s above the normal standard, because his designs are extraordinary.
Katleho studied a BA degree in Community Development and Leadership at UJ, however, in his third year he dropped out because he realised he was not passionate about the course. After that he had to do a self-introspection and he finally realised that he loved sewing. “It took me 3 years to discover my true potential. The first time I sat in front of a sewing machine, magic happened. I managed to make myself a denim jacket and from then, until now I’ve been consistent and growing. The fact that I was unemployed after I dropped out also made me to use the resources at my disposal,” adds Mokoena. He also added and said that even though this is his third year in the fashion industry, he has learned so much as he has put together traditional attires, ancestral attires, church uniforms, normal street attires and crèche uniforms.
He mentions the difficulties he faces as a designer. “There is no funding. It’s sad that I have even accepted that funding is mostly allocated to well established businesses and it’s hard for our local businesses to grow in this stance. Clients can also make things difficult for us because they are not willing to pay. This is a setback for our businesses and therefore we can’t grow,” uttered Mokoena. Having coalition partners is also an advantage to his business as it gets the work done. He states that he works with Guma Photography, Mr. & Mrs. Smith Photography, JC Models, Home of Movement, Katleho Thee Independent Model and Ben Monati, owner of Upcoming Magazine and Monati Shots.
He advises upcoming designers to have passion for fashion. “Education is important in every industry. People should know the basics to make things easier for themselves. Show how serious you are and make sure that you make money from it so that you can be able to provide for yourself,” murmured Katleho. He adds to say that he hopes for the best and would love to open an African Print retail store.
By Palesa Ndinisa
