Fashion With A Purpose

BY Zodwa Kumalo-Valentine

When you think fashion, the name Rebecca Malope does not easily come to mind, but according to the founders of fashion label heart leads the way, the South African gospel singer is their quintessential brand ambassador.

“She is ‘the people’s choice’ after all”, says Zanele, one of the three Mji sisters who started the fashion label, heart leads the way, in 2012. Together they upscale ordinary takkies to exquisite Zulu-beaded fashion accessories made by the women at St Clements, an HIV/AIDS clinic and home-based care facility in Clermont Township in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Collaborating across continents, Zanele, a freelance writer who lives in Durban, oversees production and supply chains; Nomzamo, a yoga teacher living in Cape Town, is responsible for organisational systems; and Nosizwe, a yoga instructor based in the US, is the marketing arm of the business.

“We’d all escaped formal employment, determined to find new, more liberating ways of supporting ourselves and promoting collaboration between women. One of our core founding values is ‘community will save us all from the boundaries of unfulfilling lives’,” says Zanele.

A new jewellery range is in the pipeline, but for now the shoes are available at The Pan African Market in Long Street, Cape Town as well as at Exodus Goods Consignment Store, New Orleans.

Images: Supplied