Style icons who are so hot, they’re the coolest in the land
● For Karabo Poppy Moletsane, the writing’s on the wall — from Soweto, to the US and on to the most recognisable brands.
The illustrator, graphic designer and street artist is the winner of the Next Big Thing award at this year’s SA Style awards, crowning what she describes as an “unconventional career path”.
The award ceremony will take place next month.
Moletsane is in the US working on a mural in Salt Lake City, Utah, commissioned by the Utah Jazz basketball team.
Next month the Vereeniging-born artist will head to New York, where she’ll be meeting with galleries to discuss prospects for her solo exhibition next year.
Her first big break was working with
Apple on its RED campaign. Her next break came when Bill Gates tweeted her illustrations.
One of her biggest challenges has been learning how to be an effective black female illustrator, graphic designer and street artist with her own business, in a space where there aren’t many black female creatives.
Actress Terry Pheto, one of the judges, said Moletsane was doing amazing work and was “someone to be excited about”.
“We’re celebrating not just who looks good in pictures but those making big moves in their careers,” Pheto said.
Moletsane created a Google Doodle for International Women’s Day this year and in 2017 was invited by the University of California to paint a mural in the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
She has also worked with Woolworths and Nike.
She designed the graphics on Soweto’s popular cooling towers for Soweto Gold Superior Golden Lager and did the redesign for the Zoo Lake basketball court in Johannesburg. There’s a mural in the Facebook Africa office and a wall in Soweto with her signature designs on them.
The SA Style awards, which have been running for 22 years, celebrate individuals who are making a mark in their industry. A group of 22 judges came together to decide who should be awarded the accolade of most stylish in 12 categories.
Rapper and poet Sho Madjozi got the nod for most innovative style.
Said Pheto: “You can’t help but fall in love with her. She’s fun, sexy, innovative and breaking boundaries musically and culturally.”
The judging panel was made up of previous winners and media professionals. Former winners include Basetsana Kumalo, stylist Louw Kotze and celebrity designer Gert-Johan Coetzee. Coetzee said the awards were not about how recipients dressed but about their energy.
He said that this year the process got intense, with each judge passionately motivating for their pick to make the cut.
“It took us over eight hours sitting together to come up with the final list of winners. It’s like a screaming match, but it’s all done in love. There were some common names on everyone’s list, like [TV presenter and DJ] Lerato Kganyago and [fashion blogger] Sarah Langa-Mackay,” Coetzee said.
Kganyago gets the award for most stylish media personality, and DJ Zinhle Jiyane wins the award for most stylish performing artist in music.
The award for most stylish business personality will go to Johanna Mukoki, who is Kumalo’s sister and business partner. Kumalo said Mukoki was as stylish as she was fierce in the boardroom.
Other winners are: Linda Mtoba (most stylish performing artist in film or TV), Langa-Mackay (most stylish social media personality), Rich Mnisi (most stylish fashion designer), Gregor Jenkin (most stylish designer), Ansolet Rossouw (most stylish model), Nandi Madida and Zakhele Madida (most stylish couple) and Billie Zangewa (most stylish South African icon).