INNOVATORS

TSHEPISO [BA FA 2017]

Next generation metalsmith

Tshepiso (BA FA 2017), the founder and mysterious metalsmith alumna who recently released her eponymous debut jewellery collection, has been described as “fashion-forward” and challenges the conventional approach to jewellery.

Tshepiso’s interest in metal work developed during her degree, but its significance was propelled by time spent at Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School in Firenze in Italy.

“After I graduated from Wits I was a little disenchanted with South Africa as a whole and decided not only to leave but to do something else in the creative field. I came across Alchimia while searching for courses online,” she says via email.

“The decision to go was rash but I had a gut feeling that it was right. I moved to Florence not knowing anyone and had only a semester’s knowledge of Italian under my belt so it was daunting but exciting. I spent two years in Italy and in my first year I stayed with a roommate who had already been living in Italy studying jewellery; she spoke fluent Italian and knew Florence pretty well so she was able to ease me into Italian living.”

She says her intention is to create pieces that are bold and play with the way the body moves and looks. Her work has opened an entirely new category in the market and breaks the rules of a traditional binary approach to jewellery design.

The promotional images for the collection feature model Yongama Mgqibela landing in a dreamy desert. Tshepiso teamed up with photographer Armand Dicker and creative director Anthony Hinrichsen to create an other-worldly shoot.

“The South African industry is quite traditional in terms of design or leans toward gender specific designs. It makes sense to create gendered designs in a society that is still quite patriarchal and rife in toxic masculinity. Times are changing though, and I want my brand to reflect that. My brand aims to push the boundaries by creating designs that are gender fluid, contemporary and unconventional.”

She says that her Wits education has had a huge impact on her career: “Wits has played a massive part in my journey, I have an incredibly solid foundation in conceptualising and creating because of every lecturer in the department. Professor David Andrew (PDipEd 1986, PhD 2011) who was my tutor in my third year of Fine Art was very no nonsense (he probably still is) and pushed me to push myself, which I’m eternally grateful for. Coming from an art background has allowed me to approach jewellery differently. [Considerations such as] wearability, weight and size sometimes go out of the window because of this.”

Now she’s “experimenting with stones and patinas, drawing inspiration from different objects, textures and shapes for pieces to come”.

Yongama Mgqibela models Tshepiso's debut jewellery collection.