About Katekani
The story behind the brand — culture, craftsmanship and sustainable fashion.
About Us
Katekani is an independent designer born in a small village called Welverdiend in Bushbuckridge, in the north east of South Africa.
The importance of cultural sustainability has shaped Katekani’s overall design aesthetic. It also sparked the desire to create a brand that tells the stories of SePulana culture and its people, and to help build a sustainable South African fashion industry.
Much of Katekani’s inspiration is sourced from the SePulana culture. As part of the traditional attire, the SePulana culture combines scraps of fabric and plastic material — which ties in perfectly with Katekani’s desire to practice sustainable fashion by upcycling different types of “waste” material. The SePulana culture (a SePedi dialect) is one of the African cultures that embrace bright and bold colours, inspiring Katekani’s wish to be unconventional and to push boundaries, celebrating individuality and creating wearable art.
While completing his diploma in fashion design at the Durban University of Technology, Katekani gained experience as an intern for brands such as Amanda Laird Cherry, Holmes Bros and Mr Price, where he firmly grasped circular fashion practices.
In 2017, Katekani entered the Vodacom Durban July Student competition and won first place. In 2018 he was invited to showcase at the Vodacom Durban July alongside nine other established designers in “The Timeless Collection”. That same year he was selected as a top 10 finalist in the SA Fashion Week (SAFW) S/S 18 student competition and received the Best Menswear award at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) S/S 18 fashion show.
In 2019 he was awarded the student award at the inaugural Twyg Sustainable Fashion Awards and received the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC’s recognition award for eco-friendly fashion.
In 2020 he connected with retailer Pick n Pay Clothing to present a Katekani collection, bringing his design ideas, cultural legacy and ingenuity to a far wider audience. This led to a collaborative collection on product design and, later in 2025, the Pick n Pay Clothing Cohort collective collaboration. He was also featured in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
From 2022 to date, he has worked on projects addressing climate change and global waste management with organisations such as the British Council and Hecho Por Nosotros, to name a few.