Johannesburg-based designer Craig Jacobs of the label Fundudzi was driving in the Namibian desert when he received the challenge via SMS. He had 48 hours to create a glamorous item of clothing for TV personality and radio DJ Lerato Kganyago to wear on the red carpet.It was part of a campaign by Mercedes-Benz in which singers, comedians, designers, chefs and musicians are challenged to create their best work in 48 hours in unfamiliar territory.After raiding the camp's basic kitchen Jacobs put together a plan that entailed using turmeric and tea to create the colours for the shoot in the desert ."I boiled a potjie filled with water and made two batches of 'dye' - one from turmeric to create a warm yellow colour to reflect the sun and the burnt grass beneath the mountain, and the other with tea, which resulted in a stony colour to reflect the rocks of the mountain."Jacobs admits that he didn't sleep well, worrying about the challenge.''It's a completely foreign country to me and I needed at the very least a sewing machine and fabric to get started."The core philosophy of Jacob s' brand is to provide fashion for free-spirited individuals.''I went to the Spitzkoppe mountain, where we were camping, early the next morning, to draw inspiration."Inspired by the mountain, Jacobs created a dress out of bed sheets he found in the camp."I looked around me to see what I could use to create something magical."Sheets alone don't make a dress so the designer drove to the nearest town to find a seamstress to help him find other bits and pieces to add to the outfit."We passed a hardware store, and I found some twine that I ended up weaving into shapes (to which I also added beads discovered in a touristy bead shop)."Jacobs admits that he doesn't sew very well, so it was vital to find a seamstress . ''We finally found Sylvia in a township outside Swakopmund. I borrowed some old patterns of hers and changed them to cut out the shape of the dress."For the final touches, Sylvia recommended a local fabric store where Jacobs found some stretchy material to create the base of the dress.The handcrafted yellow, tan and white dress was later modelled by Kganyago walking barefoot across the Namibian dunes.''The challenge forced me to think outside the box. It changed the way I design," says Jacobs.See mblife.co.za..