Fashion designer brings Africa to Observatory

BY: Richard Stadler

Sibondha Wood is a man on a mission - to bring radical African design to Observatory and its surrounds. His fashion design simply cannot be ignored.

It's bright, colourful and brim-full of afro-centric pizazz!

He has an infectious laugh and is high-spirited, with the focus and attention to detail of a skilled entrepreneur.

His designs are hand crafted from fabrics he sources from Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and Durban and include clothing, bespoke jewellery and bags. Sibonha also takes old vintage clothing and recycles them into hand-crafted masterpieces of fashion design.

His label, Afrika Bhula, means "Africa Talks" in Tshopi, an old dialect of Xhosa and Zulu and his clothes really talk.

In fact, they shout!

It's impossible to ignore them, they are so colourful and vibrant!

His clothing ranges from R120 to R2,400 for a custom-made jacket with three layers of insulation that can be worn with the outside or the inside of the jacket showing, essentially two fantastical jackets in one!

If that's too rich for you, his jackets are also available with one layer of insulation at R800 - R1,200 and two layers of insulation at R1,500.

Afrika Bulha Design is in great demand, not just locally but around the world, with orders coming in from Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico and France in his books.

Sibondha is intent on helping the local community as he wants to open a factory in Observatory to train interns in the making of bespoke clothing design.

They can then work for him or branch out on their own and create their own fashion pieces. Sibondha is looking for multiple outlets to sell his designs.

Currently his fashion wear is available through Maids of Honour in Lower Main road.

He can be contacted at 078 66 59458 or on email at sibonha@gmail.com.