Reality TV star launches her own fashion label
THE TRANSITION from Ms to Mrs can be a struggle for some, but for Mome Nale the switch was effortless.
This has also influenced her fashion business, which has been rebranded from Ms Mome to Mrs Mome, as a way of embracing the new stage in her life.
In 2009, Nale kicked off her design career with a Ms Mome Collection, which included young, bold and colourful streetwear.
Now, Nale has married stand-up comedian Mongezi “Toll Ass Mo” Ngcobondwane and become a mother of two.
Nale said: “Right now I am at the stage where I am enjoying making clothes for women. I guess that has also been influenced by me becoming a wife and a mother.
“At this stage I enjoy embracing different kinds of body types as a woman.”
She recently launched the Mrs Mome Collection, a local fashion brand representing style and comfort for confident women of all sizes, specialising in ready-to-wear clothing.
In an exclusive interview with The Star, the reality TV star, fashion stylist-turned-designer and businesswoman said she wished she was a little more patient with her goals.
“Let me take you back. It all started sometime in 2008 when I got into styling before it even became the ‘in thing’. I used to style music videos for people like musicians Mxo, Slikour, Kwesta, Smash and Reason,” she said.
Nale said that initially she was drawn to styling male hip-hop artists, but had grown over the years to styling and designing for female personalities.
“With my love for clothing, I felt that I wanted to do something of my own.
“I wanted to make clothes. I didn’t want to choose clothes for a certain project,” she said.
“I have always been known as the Mome from Cream Cartel (a local street culture reality show) with the crazy style.
“The older I get and the more mature I am, I embrace the feminine side of me,” she said.
She added that her eye for fashion had evolved and rebranded from streetwear to a more mature, classy, but yet sexy clothing brand providing comfortable and stylish daily wear to highlight the consumers’ best features.
Nale said she had fallen in love with the various types of fabrics, but right now a fabric called scooby doo had won her heart.
“I use that (scooby doo) material a lot because it’s comfortable and stretches, which is one thing that a lot of curvy women struggle with.
“Sometimes you don’t want to wear shorts, because the material is not comfortable enough for your body type,” she said.
“I have produced different pieces with the material using print, which has become one of our trademark items on sale in our collections,” she pointed out.
As a woman in her 30s, she said her biggest dream as a fashion designer was to have her brand reach more people.
“As much as I want to keep my brand as exclusive as possible, I have realised that because I am online, most of my consumers are from out of the city.
“My dream is to have a manufacturer and offices in every province across the country,” she said.
This month the Mrs Mome Collection will be available for purchase at a pop-up store at Emperors Palace or online.
According to Nale, the biggest trends to look out for in 2018 stem from the trends of previous years.
“The off-the-shoulder look for women is a design that is quite sexy for every type of woman.
“It is one of our best-selling items. Also, high-waisted pants are a musthave for every woman,” she said.
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