Johannesburg - Bonolo Mataboge had already decided that she wanted to become a fashion designer in high school.
“It was in Grade 8 or 9. I come from a family of over-achievers. My dad is a doctor, my sister is good in maths and science and my mother is good at everything,” she said.
She could act and she could draw, but decided on the latter as her career.
Mataboge started sowing the seeds for her company, Afriblossom, early.
“I used to sell designs to people and they would get it sewn. Sometimes I would also get the fabric along with the design,” she said.
Now 19, Mataboge has a full range of clothing inspired by her grandmother and mother.
“It’s African-inspired with isiNdebele and 1960s accents,” she said.
Earlier this year she got sick and had to leave her studies at design school Lisof. Mataboge has Blount’s disease, a growth disorder of the shin bone that causes the lower leg to angle inward.
She has had five surgeries to correct her left leg. She has had a brace around it since December.
“I had a pin-tract infection and it wouldn’t heal. It got worse and I went to the doctor and had to have surgery the next day,” she said.
The brace is supposed to help strengthen her bone and lengthen it. She can now walk on it and is close to making a full recovery.
“It doesn’t slow me down, after five surgeries I got over it at some point.”
Mataboge has never allowed the disease to keep her from achieving her goals.
“I wanted to carry on with my plans regardless of what was happening,” she said.
In September she held her first fashion show with the help of sponsors.
“At Lisof I would have had the chance to have one of my garments at the annual fashion show. I told myself that I would have a whole fashion show since I wasn’t there any more. Sometimes at school you think you can’t do things on your own,” she said.
Her mother told her to “go big or go home”, and Mataboge did just that.
Her range is everyday wear varying from formal to casual clothing with prices ranging from R250 to R950.
“I didn’t want to design something I couldn’t wear,” she said.
Mataboge describes herself as a decisive person who knows exactly what she wants to do. “I want to start designing my own patterns and move into the textiles industry. There is a lot that needs to be done there and not enough local companies are involved,” she said.
Soon she will be meeting with potential buyers for her clothing range and she is also working on an online store and a beachwear clothing range.
“I’m all about doing things you can do yourself.”
The Star