Design Week South Africa is slowly becoming one of my favourite times of the year and this year’s edition exceeded my expectations and more. Amongst the many talks, activations, exhibitions and shows, I wanted to highlight someone who keeps breaking boundaries in the fashion world with her work. Yamkela Mahlelehlele, founder of Maison Kotr and conceptual designer, manages to maintain her identity while simultaneously working with corporate brands like Pick ‘n Pay and many more. My first encounter with Yamkela came during last year’s Design Week when I was in the crowd as she spoke as part of a panel talking about design and archiving as a means of progress and equity, along with Wanda Lephoto, Andile Dlamini and Alexa Schempers.

Taking it to the beginning, Yamkela’s journey started when she moved to Cape Town from the Eastern Cape after completing her matric in 2016. While doing a degree in Consumer Science, she realised it wasn’t for her and decided to drop out after four months. After years of selling repurposed clothing, she enrolled into CPUT’s esteemed fashion department, graduating with a Diploma in Fashion Design. Her experiences with understanding the corporate fashion world began with her internship at Superbalist. This then led to more doors opening up for her attracting the attention of Redbat to be a part of the Redbat Posse in a showcase during SA Menswear Fashion Week SS23.

Next on Yamkela‘s agenda was Levi’s ‘Haus of Strauss Africa’ after a successful proposal to be part of their Youth Day celebrations. Her biggest collaboration so far has to be the one she recently did with Pick ‘n Pay, in a celebration of the resilience of women around the world, doing it under her own label Maison Kotr as well and being available in 40 stores.

This leads us back to the most recent Design Week just past. Where she had the launch of her new collection “ESSENTIALS” hosted at Arthur’s Mini Super under Maison Kotr. One of my favourite things about her label is the motto/slogan (whatever you want to call it) “IT’S NOTHING UNTIL IT’S SOMETHING.”

I think that just epitomises Yamkela’s ethos for what she’s trying to create and ultimately leave behind legacy-wise. Her collection celebrates the connection of memory and taste not only through clothing, but accompanied with an installation in the store. 

Now I know I’m not much of an authority on fashion as I like to keep my own fashion sense simple, but I can recognise a talent when I see one even if it’s in a field I’m not familiar with. Yamkela for me shows how a creative can be able to land these big collaborations with corporate brands and still remain true to her own identity in the process.