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Langalakhe Mabena
Like father, like daughter!
The adage “an apple doesn’t fall far away from the tree,” is breathing life into 12-year-old Evelyn Mubochwa, who has decided to follow her father -Thembani Mubochwa’s footsteps as she has ventured into fashion designing.
Evelyn is a third-generation fashionista as her mother Celia and her grandparents are also fashion designers.
Growing up she was exposed to needles, scissors, sewing machines, and all materials vital in fashion designing, and that convinced her to venture into fashion at a tender age.
Her collection titled “Afro Jumbo by Evelyn Mubochwa” kick-started her career as she exhibited successfully at the Maputo Fashion Week in Mozambique on 12 January.
That on its own makes Evelyn float on top of the cream.
“I just love fashion and design. I learnt from my dad and mother who is also a designer. I enjoy it and I am still perfecting it.
“I was in Maputo recently for their annual fashion week. It was an eye-opener for me because I was supposed to be the first to showcase my collection dubbed Afro Jumbo by Evelyn Mubochwa. I was surprised when I was advised to present them as a closing act since the judges liked my garments,” said Evelyn.
On where she draws her inspiration from, she said, “I always look into the future and then come up with something. I always want my collections to be unique in one way or another.
“I don’t want to do the obvious, but I would like to come up with something attractive. If you want to be a fashion designer, it must be in you, you must enjoy it,” she said.
Her father Thembani, who was also born from a family of tailors, is happy with the strides his daughter is making and he believes that the family business and trademark are in safe hands.
“I feel blessed that she is now making her designs as a young kid. I have been monitoring her since when she was young and she loved to spend time with us in the studio. I was not surprised that she followed in our footsteps.
“As parents, we should always support our kids and in my case, I love to see Evelyn exhibiting at major festivals. This year, we are facilitating for her to exhibit in Türkiye (Middle East) and in other parts of North, West, and East Africa. We have put everything in place and we are just waiting for the dates,” said Thembani.
Notable people that Evelyn has dressed include Ndumiso Zungu (9). She designed an outfit for Ndumiso at the 2023 Crown Gospel Awards.
Ndumiso is the son of Thinah Zungu, a top South African gospel artiste who is also following in his father’s footsteps.
