You are once again participating in the upcoming South African Fashion Week after winning the SAFW New Talent Search in 2021. The collection is called Pond. What can the attendees expect and what was the inspiration behind the collection?
I often find myself looking to the natural world of inspiration. If you enjoy nature, patterns and details, you would love this collection. For this season, I wanted to do a pictorial expression of bodies of freshwater. For Pond I wanted to play with patterns and prints, which we have become known for. However, I wanted to create patterns through appliqué work, beading and repeating textures.
What values, techniques and processes define your brand?
Having always been interested in the visual arts, I most enjoy the textile design process. I enjoy individually designing and drawing up different repeat prints or artworks used in my work. This process allows us to make each piece truly unique to the brand. This is underpinned by an overall responsible fashion philosophy.
Your brand continues to gain popularity and recognition. What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?
I see every satisfied customer as a huge compliment and accomplishment, but what was possibly my biggest accomplishment in building my own confidence was winning the SAFW New Talent Search. This showed me that anything could be possible and gave me the confidence to build my business to where it is today.
What is next for the Artho Eksteen brand? Where do you hope to be in the next five years?
We would like to explore the possibility of opening our own brick-and-mortar showroom and store. We would also like to have our first international showcase within the next five years.