18 Sep 2014

When most people complete their tertiary education, their vision is to find work and earn a living, but for  Thato Bokhutlo the dream was completely different.

The thirty- year old, Bokhutlo has always wanted to be in business and has never visualised herself working for someone. “I like to be in control of my time and being creative. There is a joy that I feel when I deliver a finished product of my own hands” said Bokhutlo.

Upon completion of her studies at Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa in 2010,Bokhutlo stayed for five months directing her thoughts as to what to do as her next step. It was in June 2011, when she submitted her application for youth funding at the youth offices in Francistown.

Her desire was to venture into the fashion business.  Bokhutlo said it was at the Francistown offices that she was advised to submit her application at other youth offices other than Francistown as there were already many people who had been funded to do fashion design in Francistown.

“As much as I wanted to work in Francistown, I took the advice and went to Selibe Phikwe as I have relatives there,”said  Bokhutlo. She said she was grateful for the support she received from family and friends during the application process.

“The procedure was not easy but because I wanted to realise my dream I had to do all that was required,” said  Bokhutlo.

She said it was in June, 2012 when she received the approval letter. “I was overjoyed mostly because that marked the beginning of my dreams,” she said.  Bokhutlo said it was only in November 2012 that her business started operating in Selebi Phikwe.

She said at the beginning business was going well but it eventually slowed down. “I grew up in Francistown and as such most of my clientele was based in Francistown. I did not have many clients in Selebi- Phikwe,” said Bokhutlo. She then made the decision to move back to Francistown after six months as she wanted to ensure that her business does not fail.

Consequently, she said her creative designs are targeted at the youth. She focuses on designing clothes for young people because they challenge her and that gives her the energy to do a better job.

“Young people approach me with pictures of what they want and they mostly get those pictures from magazines and with that I try by all means to be creative and make the product more appealing,” said Bokhutlo.

She currently has four employees, among them an artist who helps her with the sketches. She cited stiff competition in the fashion industry as some of her challenges, but she strives for beauty and quality in her designs to beat her competitors.

The prices for her dresses start from P350 and she mostly focuses on ladies wear which includes dresses, skirts, trousers, blouses, bags and other accessories. She also advises people on what to wear. She said in future she would like to display her items in stalls and hold fashion shows to showcase her design work. Ends