29 Oct 2015

Unlike most youth, the thought of acquiring tertiary education never crossed Ntirelang Malgas mind though he performed well in his BGCSE at Kgari Sechele Senior Secondary School. To him spending years at university pursuing a degree would delay his ambition of perfecting a family heritage of tailoring that his mother imparted to all of her seven children.

Growing up in a family where tailoring was a source of income propelled him to follow suit. 

 The 25-year-old Malgas, who was born and raised in Molepolole, learnt his trade from his mother. He used to watch his mother make clothes for her customers, and it instilled a passion for tailoring.  “I was raised by an imaginative, creative and incredibly talented woman. Her talent in tailoring inspired me to become a tailor. She is a big part of why I am a tailor,” he said. The inspiration he got from his mother propelled him to follow suit.

Just like the Toyota family with its legacy of inventing Toyota cars, his family seems to be heading the same way.

Interestingly, the story of Malgas is of passion defeating societal stereotype. From time immemorial tailoring was known as a female domestic chore. However, in this era where unemployment has besieged the youth, one needs to boldly throw away societal stereotypes in the dustbins of history and make a living out of what he possesss.

When he started his tailoring business in 2008, many of his peers thought he was insane and ridiculed him as a woman inwardly. However, it did not deter him from pursuing his childhood passion.

Mr Malgas’ business does and alters garments such as shirts, hats, dresses, suits, uniforms and curtains. He has also added embroidery to his products. As renting space is always a problem of entrepreneurs, for him it was a piece of cake as he uses his mother’s workshop to operate the business.

The young entrepreneur mostly tailors for individuals, private companies within the village, and is yet to try his luck with government departments after completing a PPADB license.

 The father of one said the secret behind his unique designs is attributed to the words of one of the most respected fashion designers in the world, Alexander  McQueen -“as a designer, you have always got to push yourself forward; you have always got to keep up with the trends or make your own trends. That is what I do.”  The creative young man said the words from McQueen, made him a better tailor. He explained that he attends fashion shows and exhibitions to keep up with fashion and clothing trends.

Though he did not undertake any tailoring course, Malgas believes ‘uniqueness’ in tailoring is vital to one aspiring to be a tailor of great reputation. His view is that uniqueness portrays creativity.   

His dream goal is to see the business being transformed from tailoring into fashion design. With fashion design, it will be easier for him to spread his wings locally and abroad. Like any other businesses, the tailoring enterprise has never been smooth sailing to Malgas. 

He said one of the biggest challenges that hinder the maturation of his business is space, stressing that in future he wants to buy big machines which would not be easy to operate in his mother’s workshop.

His advice to the youth is that they should use their skills and talent to create employment for themselves. Ends