Thobekile relishes fashion move
FASHION designer Thobekile Zondo believes she would not have made a career shift had her exploits in social work not been pushed aside by the love for designing and discovering new information about global fashion tendencies.
Expected to continue working full-time as a social worker, the self-taught fashion designer pointed out that at first her father did not understand her choice but after realising how passionate she was about fashion, the lure of supporting her was appealing to him.
Zondo said she was glad she did not pass-up the chance to work full-time in the fashion industry as the move has been presenting her with opportunities to transcend.
The designer was born in Bulawayo and holds a Diploma in Social Work from the Women’s University in Africa. She is the owner of Leverange (LVR) — a clothing brand, which specialises in all elegant, sophisticated, classy, casual and semi-formal ladies' wear.
Zondo noticed the need to follow her desire in fashion while in the first year of her tertiary studies in 2015. To date, she has showcased at prestigious fashion events like Mozambique Fashion Week, Zimbabwe Fashion Week, Intwasa Fashion Show (Zimbabwe), and Ekurhuleni Fashion Festival (South Africa). For her efforts, she received an accolade for Outstanding Fashion Designer at the 2020 edition of the Bulawayo Arts Awards.
“My love for fashion started at an early age. I used to make dresses for my dolls and in high school I started sketching,” she said.
“At first I thought it was just a hobby because I loved dressing up and looking good. I realised that this was more than a hobby while I was at university, I remember during lectures busy doing fashion researches instead of listening to the lecturer. This behaviour influenced the decision to start teaching myself fashion designing,” Zondo said.
“It was never easy, I quit so many times thinking I would never manage. It was very difficult because I had to learn from scratch how to use a sewing machine, pattern cutting and putting together the pieces. I remember quitting for months, but then I would find myself doing it all over again. I did not quit because I genuinely loved fashion designing, I told myself no matter how difficult it is I just had to keep working to perfect my skills.”
With love and passion, Zondo finally grasped the technique and concept of designing. She made her first collection and showcased it at Intwasa Fashion Show in Bulawayo.
The gifted designer acknowledges the role played by Nkululeko Ncube, the head designer and owner of Ara Kani, an award-winning Zimbabwean fashion brand. She said Ncube paved way for her to start out her designing chase.
“I finally learned how to make a dress when I made my first collection under the supervision of Nkululeko Ncube (Ara Kani). Fortunately, I got my big breakthrough the same year I had decided to fulfil my fashion dream thanks to him,” Zondo said.
“He played a bigger role in introducing me into the industry, he assisted me with making my first collection and showed me how to perfect my skill. My collection made its debut at Intwasa Fashion Show as part of Ara Kani’s interns, themed Heralds byAraKani.
“My first fashion show experience was amazing, crazy and hectic. From planning the collection to sketching and sewing, making the garments was the worst because of the pressure that I had due to school commitments.
“I had to scratch my head to find means to balance my time. I remember at some point thinking I won’t manage to work on my collection. I had to dedicate my attention completely to making garments that perfectly fit models and be on standby for alterations. Though exhausting, it was a good experience to kickstart my career.”
Accomplishment at Intwasa Fashion Show was followed by an opportunity to showcase at Ekurhuleni Fashion Festival in South Africa, and this was all in the first year Zondo started designing. After graduating in 2016, she resumed her occupation as a social worker while doing fashion on a part-time basis, but not for long, in 2019 she made designing mandatory.
With garments that are very classy, stylish and much distinguished from the rest because of the good choice of fabric, Zondo pointed out that she places prinaly on exclusivity in all her work despite the baffling working environment which requires her to perpetually go an extra mile to keep up the spectacular work.
“Given that there is a wide range of fabrics which I get mostly from outside the country, I will continue to dedicate ample time on strengthening my creativity. Unfortunately the pandemic has been alarming and this has slowed down my production,” she said.
“The shortage of fabrics in Zimbabwe has been problematic even before lockdown, this is one of the biggest challenges we are facing in the fashion industry. The other setback is that most Zimbabweans don’t believe in local designs, they follow a lot of international trends which doesn’t give us enough room to grow.
“We don’t believe so much in the arts industry, but our fellow African sisters and brothers do. Nigerians can wear anything, they are trend setters and they believe so much in their arts industry. South Africans also believe more in exclusivity and style, all this makes their fashion industry more outstanding and attractive both locally and across the globe.”
By producing new unique designs and using good quality fabrics, Zondo is making efforts to ensure that her relevance is vibrant. In order to cope with global fashion trends, scouring the market for fashion development initiatives and programmes listing business management training, fashion shows, mentorship and international fashion internship serves as a catalyst in giving a designer’s career much-needed depth.