Nthatuoa Koeshe
WHEN 25-year-old Moleboheng Molatelle dropped out of her Bachelor’s Degree in Education studies at the National University of Lesotho (NUL), her colleagues thought she was making a mistake.
However, four years later, she is living her dream as a fashion designer.
Now a holder of a degree in Fashion and Apparel Designing from the Limkokwing University Creative of Technology and now known as Rose, she has no regrets about her choice.
Since her enrollment at Limkokwing, has been working tirelessly to build and market her own clothing brand — Rosemo Designs.
“I dropped out of NUL because I was struggling with some modules and I thought I was wasting my time because that was not where my heart was,” Rose told the Weekender this week.
“I initially wanted to do fashion in Cape Town but when I was admitted at Limkokwing to do Fashion and Apparel Design, I decided to give it a try.”
Like many other designers, Rose’s creative journey started showing when she was just a little girl designing clothes for her dolls. She would always come up with unique designs for her dolls and would stand out among her peers.
The Butha-Buthe based designer holds nothing back when it comes to her bold range which features mainly designs inspired by nature.
“I always derive my inspiration from nature; flowers, trees and animals bring out the best in me. I have designed hats inspired by snakes; my creativity is awakened by natural resources and that what makes my designs unique.”
Her market cuts across the spectrum as she has designed clothes for the old and the young and even homosexuals. She has also designed haute couture. Rose has showcased her designs at the Limkokwing 2019 Graduate Fashion Show and the Royal Fashion Experience.
“My first showcase was my final project at the Limkokwing 2019 Graduate Fashion Show where I did classic contour through the inspiration of pansy flowers,” Rose said.
Her second showcase was at the Royal Fashion Experience where she used Seshoeshoe as her core fabric and lace on the lingerie to enhance the appeal. At the show, she targeted plus size clients who have often been left out by most designers.
“With the Royal Fashion Experience, I wanted to embrace the broader dynamics of fashion to show that even fuller figured people can wear lingerie and still look beautiful,” she said.
While she is at home with various ranges, Rose says her passion is on making children’s clothes. She also hopes to own a mega children’s brand.
“I also want to introduce the Little Miss and Mr pageant as well as the Face of Rosemo Design pageant. I believe that every parent wants what is best for their children hence I believe my designs will be a game changer.
“Children are free souls, true to themselves all the time and easy to fall in love with hence I thought I should take the opportunity to make myself recognised through them.”
Rose said she also hopes to soon start mentoring primary school learners who want to try out fashion designing. She said the mentoring programme would start at Grade 5.
“I want to start holding workshops to teach them about sewing and designing just to give them a brief insight into the world of fashion,” Rose said.
