LESIBA MABITSELA STUDIO

LESIBA MABITSELA STUDIO has been established as a hub of seeing, experimentation and documentation, informed and inspired by a re-imagined modern African identity. We have sought to express this re-imagined identity through through interdisciplinary collaborations consisting of performance art, costume & fashion design. F L E X I B L E . B A S I C S LESIBA MABITSELA STUDIO continues to contribute to a re-imagined future in African clothing production that seeks to both educate and be a leader in ethical fashion practices with our FLEXIBLE BASICS diffusion line. The compact range comprises of minimal pieces that have been designed for the African climate whilst at the same time takes into account the varying body shapes and sizes this continent and its diaspora has to offer. This means that we strive to create garments that fit more than one size or shape and due to the nature of our ideology have created unisex items of clothing that transform and transcend most gendered design norms. Our clothing engineers are not restricted to the conventional ‘fitted look’ by using as much fabric as possible in the creation of each garment, opening the way to experiment with wind, heat or ventilation around the body and minimising on waste created during the cutting process - such as the use of off-cuts to create covered buttons, bias binding and self-belts. This is a process that we phrase as, “using negative space as an ideological & aesthetic theory”.