Mpho Kuaho
| Mpho Kuaho | |
|---|---|
| Born | Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana |
| 💼 Occupation |
|
| 📆 Years active | 2000s–present |
| Known for | Jophes 09267; Colour in the Desert Fashion Week |
Mpho Kuaho (also known as Dr Mpho Kuaho) is a Motswana fashion designer and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the label Jophes 09267 and co-founder of the Colour in the Desert Fashion Week, the first fashion week in Botswana, launched in 2011. She is regarded as a pioneering figure in the development of Botswana's fashion industry.[1]
Early life and education
Kuaho grew up in Selebi-Phikwe, a mining town in northeastern Botswana. She developed her early interest in fashion through South African magazines and television, reading about designers such as Craig Native and Amanda Laird Cherry. In the late 1990s she studied clothing production in Mafikeng, South Africa. She subsequently enrolled at the Linea Academy in Durban, where she completed a bachelor's degree in fashion. Her student work appeared on catwalks in the Durban Designer Collection.[1]
After graduating she returned to Botswana, citing family as her reason for leaving a developing career in Durban, with the intention of building her own label at home.[1]
Label: Jophes 09267
Kuaho founded the fashion label Jophes 09267. The name combines "Jophes", the nickname of her husband Joseph; with 09267, the international dialling code for Botswana, encoding a statement of national identity directly into the brand.[1]
The label produces womenswear, menswear, and accessories that draw on diverse influences including South African Xhosa textile design and the traditional Setswana craft of dibatha (patchwork), which Kuaho incorporated into collections as a deliberate revival of a practice she associated with her grandmother's generation.[1] The label was stocked at the Y Clothing Fashion Boutique in Gaborone, with runs of three garments per design, making pieces relatively exclusive. Kuaho's six employees included skilled seamstresses from Sierra Leone and Zambia, reflecting the regional nature of Botswana's early fashion workforce.[1]
Kuaho dressed models for the Durban July horse race and designed for beauty pageant contestants. In 2007 she was preparing to work as assistant wardrobe designer on the filming of No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, the BBC/HBO television film based on Alexander McCall Smith's internationally renowned novel series set in Botswana.[1]
Awards
In December 2006, Kuaho won first place in the Redds African Fashion competition, competing against designers from ten other countries. The prize included a sponsored trip to Cape Town Fashion Week.[1]
Colour in the Desert Fashion Week
In 2011, Kuaho co-founded the Colour in the Desert Fashion Week (CDFW) in Gaborone alongside producer Tsoseletso Magang. She described the event as a platform for education, economic empowerment, and industry development, noting the large number of fashion graduates in Botswana who had no professional outlet for their skills. The inaugural edition featured six designers and drew international participants from Egypt, South Africa, Mozambique, and Kenya, and attracted production collaboration from Jan Malan, one of Africa's leading fashion producers.[2]
Three of the six designers from the inaugural edition were subsequently invited to the Angola Fashion Business event. CDFW was also invited to showcase at the Swahili Fashion Week in Tanzania, with Kuaho taking Botswana designers and models to participate.[2]
Philanthropy
In December 2017, Kuaho co-organised a charity art show titled Where Fashion Meets Art at Issues Fashion Studio in Gaborone, in partnership with community development practitioner Matlhogonolo Mponang. The event was themed around the revitalisation of Selebi-Phikwe following the closure of the BCL copper and nickel mine. Kuaho co-funded the event personally, with proceeds directed toward building a library at Tlhalosang Junior Secondary School in Chadibe.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Tumi Makgetla (15 June 2007). "Botswana's small step for fashion". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Asked & Answered: Mpho Kuaho". Monsieur Polk. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
- ↑ "Fashion art combine for charity". Daily News (Botswana). 6 December 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
External links
- Mpho Kuaho coverage at the Mail & Guardian
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