Fashion designer Jessica Molebatsi, the founder of JessicaJane, will be showcasing her new French-Xhosa range at Paris Fashion Week in March 2022.
JessicaJane is a brand that embraces a woman’s values and feminine beauty.
Molebatsi fell in love with the Xhosa traditional attire after she married Wandile Molebatsi, who is half Tswana and half Xhosa.
The collection that she’ll be showcasing in Paris embraces cultural differences.
“The range is all that more personal to Jessica because of her multi-racial family and the love that they have for each other. After marrying Wandile, Jessica’s social circle expanded, and she started having women approach her to make their traditional South African wedding dresses. After making a few traditional wedding dresses, Jessica found herself gravitating towards Xhosa attire. This had to do with the impactful monochrome nature of the garments.
“Jessica’s heritage of French, Norwegian, Scottish and English is naturally something that flows through her designs. When designing and creating the JessicaJane traditional wedding dresses, she still allowed her heritage to flow through her designs while maintaining a deep respect for the traditional cultural garments she was being commissioned to design and make,” read a statement from her brand.
Molebatsi has designed dresses for prominent figures such as Mama Winnie Mandela for her 80th birthday celebration. She has also dressed Terry Pheto, Precious the Planner, Minnie Dlamini, Boity, Mrs SA Matapa Maila and Amanda Du Pont, to name but a few.