Mebala is the brainchild of #DI Emerging Creative Class of 2020, Thalefang Moeletsi. Focusing on premium handcrafted and customized bags that are deeply rooted in African culture, his designs are centred on functionality, simplicity, and the expression of self. With a background in Economics, Moeletsi describes his journey into fashion as somewhat unconventional.
When it comes to luggage, most bags sacrifice personality for functionality. Fortunately, former Design Indaba Emerging Creative, Tlhalefang Moeletsi, doesn’t see why the two can’t coexist and has developed a line that is high fashion and high function. Meaning “colours” in Setswana, Mebala Focuses on premium handcrafted and customized bags that are deeply rooted in African culture, his designs are centred on functionality, simplicity, and the expression of self. With a background in Economics, Moeletsi describes his journey into fashion as somewhat unconventional.
Being selected as an Emerging Creative was the first big highlight of Tlhalefang career in fashion. That came with a lot of good publicity, like being on national TV and so on, and it really accelerated Mebala growth.
The second highlight was when Mebala moved into a bigger production space in Maboneng in October 2020. They were encouraged to see continued growth despite how difficult the year was because of COVID.
And each time Mebala add someone to the team, it’s always a high for Tlhalefang. Mebala are currently sustaining seven jobs and being able to have this brand that is creating quality manufacturing jobs is one of the reasons Tlhalefang is in the fashion space.
In the short term, they are working on some innovative features that will set the course for their brand. Mebala team hope that these will help them to continue growing so that in the medium- to long-term, they can create quality manufacturing jobs in the excluded communities of South Africa. They would love to have manufacturing facilities spread all over the villages and townships of South Africa, creating quality jobs for the youth in particular.
Source : Design Indaba
