From glamorous Paris to gritty Johannesburg, Zazi Nyandeni arrived with $2,700 and updated sartorial skills to showcase haute couture on South Africa’s racks and runways.



With just $2,700 in her bank, transferred from her savings
account in France, Zazi Nyandeni returned home to the South African fashion
industry with her freshly-minted talent. But if Paris was school, Johannesburg
proved to be university. Qualifying was never easy. 



About 53kms from Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International
Airport is Constantia Kloof, a scenic, upmarket suburb in the West Rand, where
we meet Nyandeni, the up-and-coming 25-year-old fashion entrepreneur whose
brand, Zazi Luxury, has showcased in Paris, the fashion capital of the world. 



“I wasn’t really introduced to fashion, but more so to art,” recalls Nyandeni of her early days. “Ever since primary school, I was exposed to paintings, drawings and music by my father when he would come back with artworks from his travels.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3374-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-43167" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3374-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3374-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3374-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3374-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3374-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3374-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3374.jpg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure>



She thought she was going to become a doctor growing up
because of her choice of subjects in high school but still pursued design to
stay close to art. Thankfully, her parents picked up that she was artistically-inclined
and gave her their unstinted support. 



In 2013, after high school, Nyandeni took the plane out of
South Africa and went on to study fashion at ESMOD, an international fashion
design and business school in Paris. She wanted to express herself without
saying a word, and found her way. She spent close to six years there, studying
full-time for the first three years and partially for the last two, whilst
freelancing and interning for various companies in the glitzy city.



“I love to draw and not really to sew. For my first freelance job, I went for a company that would help me work on my weaknesses; I went to Loon Paris boutique and worked on my sewing techniques. They were very strict and meticulous when it came to sewing and I learned a lot about technique,” she says.



The intense training meant that even the inside of a garment
had to be as exquisite as the outside and if the hand stitch was incorrect, she
had to undo and redo it all over again.



READ MORE: <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2019/10/31/conscious-fashion-so-much-more-you-can-do-with-discarded-clothes/">Conscious Fashion: ‘So Much More You Can Do With Discarded Clothes’</a>



“When I asked ‘aren’t we wasting material’, they would say
‘I’m wasting their time’,” she laughs.



The eager fashionista was juggling two jobs; the other was
at a PR agency named DLX Paris, which was sourcing brands for international
celebrities like American singer-songwriter Kelly Rowland.



She soon came to a realization that in fashion, there is
nothing new, which is when she moved to fabric store Boutique Malhia Kent, a
French manufacturer of haute couture. 



Nyandeni has a soft spot for weaving. She clearly adores fabrics, and this is apparent in the weaving machine she has at her Constantia Kloof studio, placed in a corner of one of the work rooms.



She says her weaving differentiates her from the other
designers, as she compares herself to South Africa’s Laduma Ngxokolo of MaXhosa
Africa and Greek fashion designer Mary Katrantzou. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3391-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-43170" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3391-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3391-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3391-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3391-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3391-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3391.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



“You can make a silhouette similar to somebody else but the real interesting part is the fabric, so Malhia Kent deals with fabric customization, and this is where I learned that in the world of fabric, you are two years ahead of the industry; like Chanel orders their fabric from Malhia Kent,” she says.



That was the space she wanted to be in.



So in between jobs, Nyandeni co-founded Garbage, a business that looked into environment-friendly garments.



“We wanted to speak on the notations of how do we pick up
the fashion industry and say that there are other ways to look glamorous and
chic and it doesn’t have to be wasteful and terrible to the environment.”



The business ran for a year and sold a few garments, but sadly, collapsed. That inspired the birth of an idea, one that would solely work for her, a business that would include all that she had learned from fashion school and the stylish streets of Paris. She had also personally worked with Katrantzou, building a portfolio and a first collection. She was ready and had under $2,700 in savings.



READ MORE: <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/entrepreneurs/2019/10/02/owning-the-african-narrative/">Owning The African Narrative </a>



Nyandeni returned home to South Africa and registered her
company in 2018.



“In my heart, I thought I was going to be able to buy sewing
machines and a small car to travel back and forth for business, be able to get
staple fabrics that people would love,” she says.



It was not the case, but she started the business despite a
shortage of funds.



“I called it Zazi Luxury because it speaks to more of the
inside and outside of a garment and the technique used which is the core of the
business. The inside is about matching the outside; I should literally be able
to wear it inside out, and if not, it’s not [a Zazi Luxury product].”



Her first client was South African comedienne Tumi Morake
referred by a mutual friend, and later actress Zenande Mfenyana, but currently,
her clients are also doctors, lawyers and drawn from the corporate world.



“In the beginning, the business was focused on couture and it developed a bit more into business such as television, dressing anchors, and we also have ready-to-wear garments. We are broadening the business to other boutiques too.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3153-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-43169" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3153-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3153-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3153-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3153-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3153-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3153-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_3153.jpg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure>



Zazi Luxury recently showcased at South Africa Fashion Week.
This year, she will be working on a fourth collection that will be both couture
and basic women’s workwear garments but featuring the Zazi aesthetic. 



Zazi Luxury currently employs seven young enthusiastic
fashionistas; one of who is Lebohang Ketlele, who has worked with Nyandeni for
two years.



“I am a dressmaker and stylist. I don’t think I would know
the things I know now if I wasn’t working here, we have dressed celebrities and
that is a great experience,” attests Ketlele.



Inspired in Paris, but made in Africa, Zazi seems to have
made the cut.

IMG_3216

The French Silhouette In Africa: How This Designer Started Her Own Business Despite A Shortage Of Funds

Khothatso Laurence Tsotetsi’s office in South Africa’s capital city Pretoria, is a profusion of pink – a beaded pink flamingo stands tall on his desk that’s draped in a pink table cloth; also here are grey couches with pink patterns and a pink mat adorning the floor.
His spacious studio with multiple rooms is just the setting for our photoshoot and interview.
Millennial fashion designer Tsotetsi has made a name for himself in South Africa’s fashion industry with his sophisticated, elegant pieces for women particular about their look, and has had his creations showcased at a number of fashion weeks.
Born in Soweto, a township in the southwest of Johannesburg, in 1988, just before the apartheid era ended in South Africa, Tsotetsi moved around a lot as a child.
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“My father was a politician, that’s why we moved from one place to another. We moved from Soweto to the Free State [a province in South Africa]; we lived in the Vaal for some time until I eventually moved to Pretoria in 2009, and since then I’ve been practicing from here.”
As a young boy, he says, his behaviour was peculiar compared to other boys his age. Where they played football, he played with fabric.
He was interested in dress designing and started with some needlework; all this evolved in high school when he figured out that designing was what he wanted to pursue. In tertiary school, Tsotetsi started showcasing at fashion weeks every season.
After graduating with a BTech degree in 2012, and with a National Diploma in Fashion in 2013 from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), he lectured on construction, patterns and creative design at TUT for a few years.
By then, he was already involved in the eponymous business he had started in 2012. Tsotetsi KL, his brand, was doing well.
“2012 was when I got my big break at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Johannesburg when African Fashion International (AFI) brought Alek Wek to walk for my show; from there, I did Black Fashion Week Paris,” he recalls.
This meant hard work, sacrifices and the relentless pursuit of his passion.
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As an assistant, Tsotetsi packed scraps of fabric for South African fashion mogul Clive Rundle for six weeks, coordinating scraps by color and fabric. Tsotetsi knows it as Rundle’s aesthetic. Rundle has sold womenswear for decades and showcased his work on ramps across the world.
“I taught art and design at a high school in the Vaal for a month and on the weekends, I would work at Clive Rundle’s; after that month, I worked permanently every day at his Johannesburg studio in the [central] business district. That’s when I started helping with the clothing and the shows, and then I worked with David Tlale in 2014 under a mentorship program, the AFI Next Generation,” says Tsotetsi.
The young designer had to shadow famed South African designer Tlale for three months before Tlale’s first New York Fashion Week show.
From both designers, Tsotetsi learned a lot and infused it with his own method, understanding the business side of fashion and not just the creative aspects. He developed a clientele base and streamlined his business into what it is today.
<div id="attachment_36562" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36562" class="wp-image-36562 size-large" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-158-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-158-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-158-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-158-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-158-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-158.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Tsotetsi in his spacious offices with model, Fath Mncube. Photograph by Motlabana Monnakgotla</div>
Over the years, he has learned a great deal and gained a lot of experience in the industry, showcasing his creations yet constantly questioning himself about what is more important: money, fame or social media likes.
“Still, why showcase,” he asks.
“As soon as it’s a company, it’s an entity with different principles: human resources, finance, graphics, photography and all of that, but as a small business, you cannot afford those services, you have to step in as the owner and play those different roles, ask for favors, manipulate people, lie, and do all of those things. So for you to be able to maintain the business, you need to be making money and paying staff. Those are the dynamics that have been in place from 2014 until 2018.”
In the eyes of the young creative designer, growth meant making money.
Among many other rich and famous names, Tsotetsi has dressed the likes of Hulisani Ravele, a radio personality and former YoTV presenter; Precious Moloi-Motsepe, a fashion entrepreneur and philanthropist, who runs the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week; and Rorisang Thandekiso, a South African actress, presenter and musician.
“I know Khothatso from high school, so he’s been making me stuff since but my real first was my first SAMAs [South African Music Awards] in 2010, it was amazing and futuristic. This year, I’m at the SAMAs in June doing the red carpet and presenting an award; he’ll be dressing me for both. We did the SAFTAs [South African Film and Television Awards] together. That dress took everybody by storm, and everybody absolutely loved it. It was just beautiful to look at people respond to it,” says Thandekiso.
Tsotetsi KL caters for a market that is distinctively chic and sophisticated.
“It is women that are of a peculiar kind who want to portray classiness in an elegant way. They want to stand out, they have exaggerated style and thoughts and they are one in zero,” says Tsotetsi.
The brand does bespoke and high-end garments and is currently working with Luminance, a fashion and lifestyle concept store present in the upscale Hyde Park Corner mall in north Johannesburg.
<div id="attachment_36563" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-36563" class="size-medium wp-image-36563" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-101-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-101-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-101-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-101-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-101-768x1151.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-101-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tsotetsi-101.jpg 1366w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />Faith Mncube of Fabulousdotcom Models. Photograph by Motlabana Monnakgotla.</div>
The garments seen in the photos are from the 2014 fashion weeks from different seasons. Tsotetsi’s favorite is a ruffle dress.
“It was a highly publicised look from the SAMAs’ [edition] 21. It was a dress that Kelly Khumalo [South African singer, actress and dancer] wore and it was one of its kind at the time; it was bigger than what it is in the image. It was 180 meters before it was tailored. It is one iconic look that we photographed for the feature,” he says.
Tsotetsi KL will be turning six years old in August and is slated to have a spectacular fashion show for Women’s Month, observed in South Africa every year that month. Tsotetsi employs four permanent staff and three interns. They are all hard at work in his studio preparing the next line.
For the lad from Soweto obsessed with needlework, he has his work cut out for him.

Tag: Runways

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The French Silhouette In Africa: How This Designer Started Her Own Business Despite A Shortage Of Funds

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