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FASHION
Through her studies in politics, completing her university studies, Esethu start-up based in Cape Town, South
philosophy, and economics, and has been driven to create a meaningful Africa. Rewoven diverts textile waste
development economics, Esethu began impact through the start-up Rewoven from landfill by collecting it from source
to gain a holistic understanding of that she co-founded alongside Tshepo and facilitating its reuse and recycling for
the challenges that Africa is facing Bhengu and Lonwabo Mgoduso in 2017. the production of various products in the
in the context of globalisation. Since Rewoven is an early stage textile recycling furniture, automotive, construction and
fashion industry. Rewoven’s current focus
is now to produce consumer goods from
Dr Sipho Mbatha the textile waste it receives such as apparel,
accessories, and homeware products.
Currently, Rewoven has diverted over
one million kilograms of textile waste
from landfill in Cape Town. The start-up
currently employs 10 people.
Dr Sipho Mbatha
Dr Sipho Mbatha is a senior lecturer,
NRF Thuthuka scholar, and head of the
department for design studies at the
Faculty of Arts and Design, Tshwane
University of Technology (TUT), South
Africa. Dr Mbatha has facilitated teaching
and learning at various South African
universities for 13 years. He completed his
M-Tech (Cum Laude) titled Development
of competitive advantage for the apparel
manufacturing industry of South Africa
with TUT. He presented his M-Tech
research findings at four international
conferences, one hosted in Spain. He has
published two book chapters and two
journal articles from this degree.
Dr Mbatha obtained his D-Tech
in Fashion Design and Technology
titled Exploring University-Industry-
Government research linkages in the
clothing manufacturing industry of
South Africa from TUT. The findings
of his research have been presented at
international conferences hosted in
Finland, Brazil, Ethiopia and South Africa
and two articles published in journals.
Dr Mbatha was a keynote speaker at
the 2018 2nd annual Consumer Studies
Teachers’ Conference and presented a
paper titled The State of Competitive
Advantage in the Clothing, Textiles,
Leather and Footwear (CTLF) Industry of
South Africa. Dr Mbatha was a panellist at
the 2015 NEPAD Regional Conference on
Arts Education in Africa titled Proposed
Policy Framework to Strengthen Art
Education in the SADC Region: Porter’s
Diamond Model Perspective. Dr Mbatha
participated at 2022 STADIO’s SPRING
SESSIONS streaming discussions on local
fashion production: implementation of
the masterplan 2030. Dr Mbatha was
26 Issue 272 • dw
