Thethana celebrates Africa Day in style

It was a unique mixture of glitz, glamour and culture last Friday as ready to wear clothing line Thethana celebrated Africa Day at local eatery The Market.

As a brand founded on a vision of embracing heritage and culture and taking up space in the African fashion industry, Thethana found it fitting to celebrate with all Basotho and other cultures that support it.

Thethana was established in 2018 by Malerotholi Maseribane who is the operations supervisor and managing director, and Nkotseng Moleko Ramaema, who is the designer and creative director.

The company designs and manufactures unique, fun, versatile African inspired clothing pieces, predominately using the Seshoeshoe Basotho fabric.

Its designs embrace and celebrate the Basotho heritage, and influence intercultural fashion in a modern and elegant way.

In an interview with theReporter this week, Maseribane said to the brand, Africa Day is a celebration of Africanism across the world and intercultural exchange.

She said the main aim of the event was to celebrate Africa Day.

However, as a business, they also aimed to showcase their latest offerings and secure as many orders and sales as they could.

She explained that as part of the business’ sales and marketing strategy, the brand gave its clients shopping vouchers that they could redeem on the day.

“The turnout was amazing. We were overwhelmed by the support that we received even from new clients that were just passing by or enjoying a meal at the restaurant,” Maseribane noted.

“So overall, we are extremely happy with the proceedings of that day, and there definitely will be more pop ups in the next coming months. Heritage and fashion have been tied together since the beginning of time. Looking good is part of every culture, hence in some tribes, people also do tattoos, piercings, and skin lacerations all in the name of being attractive.”

She indicated that more importantly for us, they want to preserve local heritage by continuing to strictly use Seshoeshoe fabrics and make references from the history of Basotho clothing.

“Our heritage is the foundation of Thethana and will continue to be included in everything we do. It gives room to create a narrative about our history in a way that is specific to how we want to be viewed and the story we want to tell,” she added.

Thethana also used the occasion to launch its winter collection in collaboration with The Market, which hosted them.

Its overall brand and products are inspired by the Thethana skirt which is a traditional Basotho girls’ skirt made from fibre and often decorated with beads.

“Since the inception of Thethana, all our designs have embraced versatility and different styling options. Thethana is now at a point where it wants to access international markets and introduce Basotho made products all over the world.

“There are international trips coming in the next few months, to South Africa, Kenya, Italy, and America, where the team will be attending exhibitions, fashion shows and conferences trying to find buyers and shelf space for our products,” Maseribane explained. Locally, the brand is in the process of expanding its work studio into a micro-factory where the team will be manufacturing more garments to service industries such as security, hospitality, and corporates with uniforms.