Project Runway's Siphosihle gets candid about upcoming designers' 'real' struggles

Project Runaway hopeful Siphosihle Masango has opened up about the struggles most young designers face, and how his dreams of being a high-flying designer was dented when his most loyal customer was his mom. 

Chatting to TshisaLIVE, Sihle said he was super excited for the opportunity to showcase his skills on a national platform, adding that he could appreciate it even more because the come up struggle since graduation has been too real.

"I graduated from school and I thought, 'Yes! this is it. I'm going to make beautiful garments for beautiful people, it's going to be awesome'...then nothing happened. Life kicked in and nothing was happening. Before I knew it was just, "Sipho o rokang ko ha habo". I was at home, sewing in the backroom and my most loyal client was my mother."

The 28-year-old said that real chances were often hard to come by in the SA fashion industry and if you don't hustle for yourself and learn to connect the dots as a young designer in SA, your dream may never take off.

Designers trying to break or make it in the industry are met with gigantic challenges all the time. Anything from lack of funding or mentorship to risk of exploitation.

Sihle added that he entered the competition because unlike the empty promises of "exposure" he'd heard a million times from people looking to exploit his skills, the chance on Project Runway was more tangible.

The rising popularity and interest people of South Africa have shown in fashion has resulted in more and more shows trying to give the inside perspective of the growing Mzansi fashion industry.

Sihle had the opportunity to intern for David Tlale when he the world renowned designer began the initiative, before it was a TV show. Sihle said it did wonders for his skills and business knowledge of the industry.

"I was one of the OGs, like the original, real life interns with David. The internship was amazing because it opened my eyes to things I may have had to learn the hard way had it not been for David. Like things like people saying they are going to pay you with exposure? I didn't know the kind of questions to ask. But I learnt to articulate the fashion business language."

Sihle said he's also learnt that as a designer in SA, "you are your brand". And, his brand is all about happiness!

"In SA as a designer, you embody the brand, in other words you become the brand. It's not like international designers like Gucci, here you as a person are selling a lifestyle and you must represent that lifestyle.

"It's the most incredible feeling in the world when you make a dress for someone and get to watch that inner-glow come out. I equate it to when you are sharing secrets with your bestie and just laughing out loud. It is the most magical feeling in the whole world, nothing compares to seeing that spring in their step and you know you had a hand."

Siphosihle said he's looking forward to trumping his competition to walk away as Project Runway SA first winner.

Catch Project Runway Tuesdays at 9:30 pm on Mzansi Magic.

The designer explained that although he's loved drawing and creating from a young age, his fluffy, happy take on art hasn't always been easy to accept. His art teachers told him his art was too "shallow" and lacked "depth" but he had to find a way to make his aesthetic work for him.

Now in a competition where his work is compared to other designer's work, that is totally different, he had to remind himself that he got this far with his "happy art".

"I eventually started to worry that I was too plastic... because you know because the Erica Badu kind of deep art almost always gets the critical acclaim for artistry as opposed to the 'make people happy' Beyoncé. But I am a happy person and someone needs to spread happiness. If my art can do that then that's what I'll do."