Mapete designs unique Tswana attire
Spira Tlhankane | Friday February 5, 2016 16:14
The skirt is uniquely designed from river reeds used commonly as building material. The material from the skirt is fitted together at the bottom using a strong wire and covered with thin leather.
Combined, the dress and the top create an African feel and have that feminine look.
While jeremane or leteisi was the attire of the day at Son of the Soil (SOTS) 2016, Mapete stood out before everyone else and she won the best traditional attire trophy.
She won the crown after being chosen by the majority of the crowd at the cultural event.
Whenever she passed, people stared at her with admiration and some stopped her to inquire about this unique attire.
In an interview with Arts and Culture, Mapete said the idea to blend the two came while she was thinking of what to wear at this year’s SOTS.
The stylist from Jakalas said she always comes up with different and peculiar outfits every year. “I made this skirt myself and as you can see, it creates that sense of originality,” she said.
Mapete said she combined all the materials to represent Setswana culture. She however indicated that she couldn’t sit on a proper chair while in the outfit.
“I can only sit on a stool, but I wore this because I came to an event where people do not really sit most of the time,” she said.
Former Minister of Health, Sheila Tlou, who is an African fashion enthusiast, was the one who crowned Mapete as the winner.
She said fashion is a form of identity that is better than even a name.
“It gives people a sense of cohesion and that oneness,” she said.
Tlou said fashion was a form of art and represents true creative artistic expression.
“Each aspect is unique and let one see the designer’s vision and the wearer’s ambition,” she said.
She indicated that she had always loved Setswana fashion right from Independence when women were debating whether leteisi or ‘Dutch cloth’ was really Setswana fashion.