South African designer Thabo Makhetha uses the striking bold patterns of her Basotho heritage in her fashion.
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00:00How Tabo Makeda brings Basutu blankets to the runway.
00:07What I do is talk about my heritage and my culture through fashion.
00:10What I love about the Basutu blankets, it has to be the patterns, the colors, the stories behind each pattern.
00:18Putting Basutu's iconic cultural symbol in the spotlight, Tabo risked having her pioneering ideas hijacked.
00:24But anyone who thinks she would roll over is mistaken.
00:27She's defended herself against mass-produced imitations of her signature designs being sold using her own images on social media.
00:36What Chyna did was a full-on photocopy.
00:40This is our classic long cape, and that is made from the Sienna Marana blanket.
00:45And then this is now the one that came in from Chyna.
00:51And it was one of those buy five for something ridiculous like 600 rand.
00:57My sister and I went to Bruma Lake, we went to Chinatown, and we walked up and down until we actually found these literal Hong Kongs of my capes and coats there.
01:07That was really painful for me.
01:09When Louis Vuitton used blanket motifs in his 2017 men's range, Tabo became a voice for African culture.
01:16I was interviewed by the BBC around the conversations of appropriation and appreciation.
01:24And it was about fashion should collaborate and not appropriate.
01:28Watching someone who has all these resources, all this ability to come and just take something for the aesthetic or the financial gain of it.
01:37That's where the line has 100% been crossed.
01:39I mean, they can make millions off of these designs, but how are you giving back?
01:44Are we doing sort of a cultural exchange around it?
01:48How are we using this to grow as a people and understand each other and the world we're in?
01:54I think the Louis Vuitton issue for me was there's no depth to it and there's no story.
01:59That's why me working with the blankets makes sense and it works.
02:03I'm telling you my authentic experience and my authentic story.
02:06Tabo worked with the UCT Center for African Studies to host the Kubu Table Talks, a research project tracing the blanket's evolution from its colonial origins to a powerful symbol of heritage and identity for the Basuto diaspora.
02:22How did showing her recent designs at the opening night provide a chance to engage with blankets in a genuine, contemporary way?
02:29I connect with, culturally, to her designs.
02:39It kind of gives me a sense of connecting to home.
02:43It's almost like a time-travelling thing.
02:45Taking something from the past and sort of converting it and finding a place for it in a modern time.
02:52And I think for me, that's also something that kind of intrigues me about her work.
02:57Tabo left Lesotho when she was three, moving around South Africa with her parents until she studied fashion in Kabeja.
03:05She started her business in 2009 making bespoke outfits.
03:09But what was her big break after she began working with the blankets and went to design Indaba 2013?
03:15Tabo's runway debut was at Vancouver Fashion Week and that collection actually sent the whole world into a spin in the presentation of the Basuto blankets as a fashion item.
03:30Tabo has been at every SA Fashion Week since, but it was a struggle breaking into what she feels is still a male-dominated industry.
03:38You find craft, art and design, it's still hugely held by women.
03:44But as the ladder goes up, exactly like corporate, the women get less than less.
03:49The people who have the money are still men.
03:51And they're still doing business deals with other men.
03:54I have had so many moments where I felt like I've made it.
03:58Beyonce was definitely my favorite.
04:00For Black East King, she put out a list of especially African designers to look for.
04:04We were featured there.
04:05That was pretty cool.
04:06We were featured in Teen Vogue online for the USA and then last year in Vogue Italia.
04:13It's not all about fame and fortune for Tabo.
04:16And the Guba Table Talks was the perfect opportunity to examine the value chain of the blankets that are made in South Africa.
04:23The fact that the blankets are not made in a sort, it is a question I've always been asking.
04:27There's a lot of layers to it.
04:31It involves politics.
04:32It involves policies.
04:34Different wool is categorized and used for different purposes.
04:38It's only Australian wool that serves the purpose to make these beautiful bustle-to blankets.
04:42It's amazing and great that you see the blanket in movies like Black Panther,
04:46Wakanda's represented by the bustle-to blankets.
04:49I think the changes I would love to see is definitely seeing more of the economic value of the blanket going back to the people.
04:56Being a cultural activist hasn't always been easy for Tabo.
05:00What does it cost to be a pioneer for my culture?
05:03A lot of rejection.
05:05When I first started cutting the blankets, people were like, how dare you cut this up?
05:10What are you trying to say by that?
05:12Her persistence paid off.
05:15Why was Tabo the first fashion designer to have an artist in residency at Izigo Museum in 2023?
05:21The National Gallery was having an exhibition called Breaking Down the Walls and they were trying to remove the colonial feel of the gallery and the exhibitions and be more inclusive.
05:33We showcased the first 3D artwork where you'd come and bring your cell phone over QR code and you'd see all the kids run up to this and take out the phones and the parents and the older generations are walking past.
05:45And that's exactly what the museum was looking for is how do we start telling these stories to the young kids and to a different audience as well.
05:54Tabo now produces her own textiles in cotton and leather using blanket style pattern that includes her grandmother's prayer stick.
06:03Continuing to celebrate Basutu culture through couture.