In just a few days, South African media personality Minnie Dlamini will be jetting off to Paris to model at Paris Fashion Week. She will specifically be walking for designer JessicaJane to show off the French-Xhosa Range at March 2022’s Paris Fashion week.
The JessicaJane label is the brainchild of fashion designer Jessica Jane Molebatsi. She is married to South African actor Wandile Molebatsi who is half Tswana and half Xhosa. Getting to know her husband’s ethnic background and the cultural practices his family holds dear has impacted her fashion design journey culminating in an invitation to Paris Fashion Week.
According to a statement by her representation, Jessica decided to create a range that would mean something for all South Africans after receiving the invitation to show at the prestigious showcase.
“Her range embodies the idea of cultural cohesiveness as it embraces the past, present, as well as racial and cultural differences.”
“The range is all that more personal to Jessica because of her multi-racial family and the love that they have for each other. After marrying Wandile, Jessica’s social circle expanded, and she started having women approach her to make their traditional South African wedding dresses.”
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After making a few traditional wedding dresses, Jessica found herself drawn to the impactful monochrome nature of traditional Xhosa garments which paved the way for how her current designs look.
“Jessica’s heritage of French, Norwegian, Scottish and English is naturally something that flows through her designs. When designing and creating JessicaJane traditional wedding dresses, she still allowed her heritage to flow through her designs while maintaining a deep respect for the traditional cultural garments she was being commissioned to design and make.”
The fashion design graduate, therefore, always brings couture elements into her traditional garments and believes that a traditional wedding dress should be treated with the same care and attention that one gives to a civil wedding dress.
In addition to her recently developed interest in traditional Xhosa attire, the JessicaJane founder has always had an affinity for all things French.
According to her team, Jessica started to imagine how her designs could creatively merge these two styles’ aesthetics.
“This creative design process had already begun when JessicaJane received an invite to show during Paris Fashion Week and she knew instantly that she would want to show a French-Xhosa range.”
Jessica then decided to name the range after her “given” name from her Xhosa aunts in the Molebatsi family; Noluthando which she says means “the one that gives love”.
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Compiled by Kaunda Selisho
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