Port Elizabeth entrepreneur Paula Jones, who designs and sells maternity wear online, has designed an exclusive shweshwe outfit for Grand Slam tennis star Serena Williams’s baby.
The tennis legend broke the internet when she revealed she was 20 weeks pregnant in April and gave birth to her bonny babe last week at St Mary's Medical Center, West Palm Beach in Florida.
The gorgeous 2-piece baby outfit is made from one of the original chocolate Three Cats shweshwe prints and features a tennis racket and ball motif in shweshwe on a white T-shirt, with matching shorts in the same print.
At present local Da Gama Textiles based in Zwelitsha, King Williams Town, is perhaps the only known producer of traditional Indigo Dyed Discharge Printed Fabric in the world.
Jones will be sending the garment to the tennis star's agent in the USA, and if there is a demand for more, can produce them in 1-2 weeks, and is able to include motifs of other sports as well.
Shweshwe, a stiff cotton fabric thought to originate in India, took off in SA when German Settlers introduced the fabric to Xhosa women in the mid 1800's, who fell in love with it and made it their own.
Asked about the initiative behind the idea, Jones said, “I was looking for a way in which to incorporate shweshwe, a fabric produced in the beautiful Eastern Cape, into my baby wear range to make a garment that the international market could also appreciate.
"It was at this stage that I found Serena's pregnancy announcement on my Instagram feed, and I knew that I wanted to send her a baby outfit that was exclusively South African."
* For more information or to order visit her website: https://penelopeandbella.com/