Growing up, the person he most looked up to was his dad, who had an impeccable sense of style.
He was a security guard and wore the uniform Monday to Friday – but come Saturday, it would be almost as if he were someone else completely, Mondli Makhoba tells Drum.
He would be dressed to the nines in the men’s styles of the day, positively dripping swag and style. “Ubungeke umthinte (you couldn’t touch him),” says the actor in that Zulu accent for which his The Wife character, Nkosana, is loved by fans.
It’s been a busy few days for him, and he has every reason to be tired or flustered. But he is the picture of calm when he speaks to us after recently following in his dad’s footsteps, per se – venturing into the world of fashion with the launch of a new line of fedora hats.
“That was the hat style my dad favoured most,” Mondli shares, reflecting on a conversation he had with his mom earlier this morning. “I was sending her pictures from the launch of the hats and she said if my dad was still alive, he’d be so proud.
“That’s why I see this Bhut’ Omdala launch as a gift from him. It might be him giving me this idea.”
Read more | RHOD's Nonku Williams relaunches her wine brand - 'I wanted the taste to represent me'
Starting his own business wasn’t the first thing on Mondli’s mind when he got a DM from Nana Magubane last December. “She offered to send me a few of her shirts to get marketing for her Eyami Lifestyle brand,” Mondli recalls.
“When I told my partner and manager, Nokuphila Sibiya, about it, she suggested we go see the shop in Midrand to check the shirts out for ourselves.
“When we got there, I loved what I saw.”
Then the idea formed for Mondli to create a fashion brand based on the popular Bhuti’ Omdala character he plays on The Wife. And the rest, as they say, is history. Although, Mondli emphasises, this is only the beginning.
He hopes to see his fashion and lifestyle brand become a vehicle to help grow the local economy by creating job opportunities as his hat business expands in future.
We talk about how he plans to protect his creation as cheap foreign-manufactured imitations of local designs have had designers, such as Laduma Ngxokolo of luxury knitwear brand MaXhosa, going after stores ripping off their designs.
Read more | What can university students do if they find out the courses they registered for aren’t accredited?
A fake MaXhosa knitted silk spring collection golf dress selling for R9 6000 was found selling for R250 at a Marabastad shop, for example, while a golf-shirt-and-pleated-skirt combo which costs R13 200 in MaXhosa outlets went for R330, City Press reported this weekend.
Mondli acknowledges that this problem poses a huge threat to the local fashion industry but he and Nana have already anticipated the possibility of being undercut by makers of imitation products.
The unique motif that Eyami uses on its designs is protected by copyright, he says. “And the Bhut’ Omdala trademark brand has already been secured.”
The launch of the fedora style hats is perfectly timed with the seasonal demand of winter fashion accessories, but Mondli says there are more styles to expect from Bhut’ Omdala, come spring and summer.
And the best part? “Women can also wear the hats.”
The hats retail for R1 000 on eyamilifestyle.com.
