STARTING with a basic stitch on an old sewing machine passed down to her by her mother, a young woman and her business partner, both from Joe Slovo Township in Nelson Mandela Bay, have managed to grow their business to such an extent that they now supply several fashion items to not only local clients, but also ones in the United States.
Yolanda Brown had no formal training when she started sewing as a student in 2019.
She started by making and selling bow ties and created a few items for friends to wear to a concert and that’s when her designs started blowing up: everyone wanted her to design and make clothing for them.
That is how Just Creations, based in the Bay, was born.
“The biggest challenge for a while was juggling between being a student and growing a business by myself. I had to be in class, sew clothes for people and do make-up,” Brown said.
Her friend and business partner, who also designs and makes jewellery and resides in the US, Babalwa Tetyana, said that they have made clothes for people all over the country.
“We made and sent clothes to a few clients in the US too. In 2020, I started beading and making jewellery for people all over the US,” Tetyana said.
“For the past few years, we have devoted time and energy to bringing joy to many people through sewing their dream outfits for special events such as weddings, formal conference events, matric dances, etc.
“It feels like a dream knowing that something that started this small ended up going international and it and shows that dreaming as a young black woman is the start of big things,” she added.
The friends, who met in 2006 when they were six years old and attended Khwezi Lomso Comprehensive School together, are excited that they get to finally have their first ever fashion show at the Mendi Arts Centre in Nelson Mandela Bay on August 7 this year.
“Not only is this Just Creations’ first ever fashion show but also the first time where both branches, in South Africa and the United States, are working together. We will also be collaborating with Emlanjeni Creations for more jewellery. The name of the fashion show is Ndinxityisiwe Runway and one of the goals that we hope to achieve with the show is to attract other skilled people that we can train to work with in providing our highly demanded services,” Brown said. “The goal of this event is more than to showcase our work; it is to show young people from our community and Nelson Mandela Bay at large that dedication does breathe life into dreams. It is to give hope to those close to giving up on their own dreams due to lack of opportunities, as well as create life changing opportunities for those in need,” Tetyana added.
“The sleepless nights, long days of sewing, making runs to multiple fabric stores and designing clients’ desired clothes have forced us to find and teach a few people that are now working with us to provide Just Creations’ highly demanded services.
“One of our long term goals is to grow Just Creations further by creating learnership and job opportunities for any skilled, talented and unemployed individual in our city,” Brown said.
When asked what advice they can give to others aspiring to follow in their footsteps, Tetyana said, “We are all talented and skilled beings. Creating the space and opportunity for yourself to grow through your passion is not easy but necessary. Any closed doors and no’s you get should be taken as the reason to keep going because not everyone will share the same vision as you do.”
