Boschendal is super proud to have collaborated again with the always inspiring David Tlale for AFIJoburgFashionWeek earlier in the month. The iconic fashion designer’s show closed the week with an extravagant showcase of his powerful Spring/Summer Collection. A stunning tribute to Africa and South African heroes like Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko. And of course, we brought the bubbles! Boschendal’s award-winning MCC to be precise.

Whenever we’re with David, we take some time find out a little more about how he lives #aninspiredlife.

Q:           Who or what inspires you?

A:            Life inspires me! The ups and downs, being happy, being sad, being in love or even being out of love. It is the simple things in life that provide me with pure joy and inspiration.

Q:           You’ve had a profound effect on the global fashion industry. Can you describe your brand and why you think it’s been such a success?

A:            Over the past 15 years we have built a brand based on craftsmanship and elegance. The brand is still growing, but we keep on building and striving to be the best in our country and globally.

Q:           You use an array of very interesting fabrics in your work; can you talk about the origin of some of these?

A:            My fabrics vary from collection to collection. Some of the fabrics are created and printed in-house, others we source from France, Italy and Turkey.  As a brand proudly rooted in SA soil, it is of the utmost importance to support our local industry, and we very often source locally produced fabrics. We believe in embracing our South African heritage. This is our way of supporting local products and promoting it to the global market.

Q:           Can you describe your creative process?

A:            It is always an organic process. I have also noticed that it is never the initial idea that is the winner. Sometimes it starts with a skirt, sometimes with the fabric or the pattern engineering. It can even be a painting that sparks my creativity. The most important for me is to ensure the creative juices flow all of the time.

Q:           Who would you love to wear your clothes?

A:            I would love to see people from all walks of life wear my clothes.  As long as I have made them feel beautiful or handsome, my job is done. The absolute highlight is when they keep coming back for more and continue to support the brand.

Q:           Why should the world be taking more notice of African fashion, art and design? What makes our creativity stand-out?

A:            The world should take notice and pay attention to our African fashion because we as Africans embrace colour and appreciate texture. We have been setting trends over the years. Think of the colour-blocking trend – the Ndebele and the Tsonga have been doing it for years. Look at the Masai people, how they fuse textures and colour. Nobody in Europe and nobody in America, do it as we do. We don’t only set these trends, but we also appreciate them. Most importantly we consume them.

Q:           Why does the Boschendal collaboration make sense for the David Tlale brand?

A:            The collaboration with Boschendal makes sense because of a simple thing – we both believe in the finer things in life. Our work exudes luxury and is the epitome of decadence.

Furthermore, a beautiful gown and an exquisite bottle of Cap Classique both take time and extraordinary craftsmanship to produce.