Creative artist accessorises much beloved leteisi

Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday November 9, 2018 12:35

 

This has made many women of different races, religions and cultures fall head-over-heel in love with the trend and are now accessorising with these colourful and traditional pieces. This has landed talented local designer, Mpho Motsamai of Posty’s Crafts into this line of business.

The talented woman makes  fascinating collections of fashion accessories such as earrings, handbags, bangles, necklaces and even shoes using African and German prints that most women fell in love with all over again with their traditional attires.  Her creativity and ability to renew wornout handbags and shoes has brought that spark and colour back into most women’s wardrobes.

Motsamai explained to Arts and Culture that Posty’s Craft was a business that deals with quite a number of crafts, which include home decorating ornaments and accessories.  Being a true Motswana woman, she decided not to only use leteisi that has been adopted by great grandparents in making ornaments as she also uses various African Print fabrics to come up with different colourful items. “Leteisi has always been a part of our lives because it is part of our traditional wear. Using it for my products is a way of preserving our culture somehow and to incorporate modernity into our traditional gear. The products I make include women’s bags, hats, neckpieces, earrings as well as keyholders.  I also cover and decorate shoes as well as old hand bags,” she said.

She added that since she started her business, the public has given her very positive feedback as she gained a number of customers in return.

She highlighted that she also gets support from both the young and the old, both men and women. Because most of her products are tailored specifically for them, most of her customers are women.  Despite her outstanding work, just like any businessperson, Motsamai encounters some challenges which include having to travel to places like South Africa to source materials she needs because local craft shops at times do not have certain tools and materials and some Chinese shops are already selling products almost similar to hers at a lower price compared to hers. She further pointed out that most of leteisi products she makes are for women of different age groups.  However, she pointed out that she had expanded her client target where she has included men as she currently covers and embroiders their sneakers, as well as does embroidery on t-shirts.

“My business was established in 2016. I love craftwork in general, so besides working with leteisi and African print material, I decorate homes and ornaments from recycled material. These include vases, wall hanging, decorate photo frames, decorate mirrors and wall watches. I would really like to see myself as a proud owner of a craft shop selling my wares with more than five employees and having more customers in neighbouring countries in future,” she confidently said. Currently, Motsamai does all of her work at home.  Even though her business is still young, she has casual employees who help her when she has a large order. She says it is her dream to see herself creating jobs for others.

Furthermore, she advised the youth to discover what they are passionate about, direct all their energy and focus into their passion and make the best out of it. She highlighted that it was important for them to use internet positively for learning purposes, to improve their talents and to discover new trends and ideas saying it has worked for her and she believes it can work for them too.

“Although the government has put up strategies out there to empower the unemployed youth, it is not enough and self employment is one of the ways in which the youth can become more self-reliant, help create jobs for others and contribute towards the country’s economy,” she said.