Fashion Design: a delayed choice
Discovered her creative side late, Moitshepi Mokaila is penetrating the industry like a natural
Moitshepi Mokaila’s journey to selfdiscovery and launching her very own design house, which has now evolved into a creative hub, is as colourful as her personality. Mokaila is the brains behind In- decisive, a company that prides itself for being more than just a fashion house. The company offers services that include styling, shopping for one’s closet, fashion illustrations, and creative directing to mention a few. Just recently, Mokaila was cast in Season 1 of the Battle of the Ankara, a television show that pitted ten upcoming talented young designers against each other from Botswana, South Africa, Ghana and Zimbabwe.
One of the judges for the competition that airs on Honey Channel, DStv happens to be none other than Gert Coetzee, a renowned fashion designer not only in Africa but internationally and Palesa Mokubung, founder of Mantsho fashion label. So far, she has made it into the Top 6 of the high intensive competition. The design competition took place at the FEDISA Fashion School in Cape Town.
It was not easy getting this far, as it came with a lot of pressure to deliver on time, while excelling at what one is doing. The fact that the judges themselves know the Fashion Industry like the back of their hands, and that the selected finalists were equally talented, meant that it was not easy sailing getting this far. Incredibly, she has even earned the Designer of the week, alongside her partner for that week, Shepherd. While she cannot reveal how far she went in the competition, she is promising that Batswana must keep watching out for her, and patiently wait to see whether she was crowned the winner or not.
The 28 year- old Mokaila explains that she is always looking for opportunities to expand and grow her footprints as a designer. She admits that she is not happy with being just a designer hence she took advantage of the opportunity.
“I applied and by the grace of God, I was shortlisted,” she says.
She further says that it was tough, and that creating a finished garment in ten hours was challenging and exciting.
One of her fears was having to deal with the different personalities and how to navigate her way around them, but she learnt that the other designers had the same fear as well. “They had the same fear, and we got along well,” she explains.
The experience that she has gained has reaffirmed that the go- getter can do anything that she puts her mind to.
“I have grown to respect myself and I am growing and evolving. I now know that I can hold my own,” she says.
She further says that the opportunity to be on the show also gave her supportive parents a chance to see how much she has grown.
Taking a step back into her journey in the industry, she explains that she somewhat always thought that she would be a Lawyer. She even admits that she could have become a good lawyer but that it was not for her. She had applied to study law at the University of Botswana but could not get a place. Her next best option was the Humanities. But that too was not for her, and it was not working out.
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