Khoisan heritage shapes Thabiso Musi’s ‘Abstract Clay’ collection for Heritage Month
Thabiso Musi's collection draws on Khoisan heritage and the story of Krotoa.
Image: Supplied
Heritage Month invites us to look back, to honour our roots, and to celebrate the diverse traditions that shape who we are.
For designer Thabiso Musi, it is also about reimagining those stories and weaving them into something new, something you can literally wear.
The Free State-born creative has just launched Abstract Clay, a limited-edition women’s collection that draws on Khoisan heritage and the story of Krotoa, a 17th-century Khoekhoe woman who worked as a translator, cultural mediator, and entrepreneur.
For Musi, Krotoa’s life is both a source of inspiration and a reminder of how often the contributions of African women are overlooked.
Thabiso Musi's collection draws on Khoisan heritage and the story of Krotoa.
Image: Supplied
“In 2019, I began exploring the question of what African fashion really is, how it exists, how it shows up, and how something so diverse represents itself,” Musi says.
“That journey led me into a lot of self-directed research, and along the way, I stumbled upon the story of Krotoa. What fascinated me most was the tension she embodied between myth and history, and how her story highlighted something I had been feeling for a long time, the way African women’s contributions are so often overlooked in our history.”
For him, bringing her narrative into the spotlight this September is not just timely, it is necessary.
“Spotlighting Krotoa during Heritage Month is about addressing that silence. It is about celebrating the role of women in shaping South African heritage and ensuring their stories are not treated as footnotes but as central to the narrative of who we are.”
Krotoa, the most written-about woman in South African history.
Image: Supplied
Fashion as storytelling
Musi’s work is known for blending African art with abstract design, and in this collection, that fusion feels almost inevitable.
“I don’t see African art and abstract design as two separate things. For me, abstract design is already an expression of African art,” he explains.
“Our stories were rarely written down; they were told, passed from one generation to the next. In that sense, they have always carried an interpretive quality.”
That interpretive quality is central to his design language. Inspired by the role of griots, storytellers in African cultures, Musi sees abstraction as a way of honouring memory while reimagining the future.
“We are all interpreters of our heritage,” he says. “Abstraction allows me to honour that process, to give shape to stories that are layered, fluid, and evolving.”
Krotoa’s influence
The silhouettes and fabrics in this range echo Krotoa’s resilience.
“I wanted the clothing to feel almost shell-like, tough on the outside, protective, like an armour, but also layered with meaning,” Musi explains.
The result? A-line dresses, relaxed pants, and wrap-around tops in bold patterns and earthy tones. Clothes that are not just beautiful, but also symbolic: protective, empowering, and rooted in history.
For Musi, every piece is about creating garments that carry “strength, pride, and resilience, tools for navigating modern life while honouring ancestral memory.”
For Musi, every piece is about creating garments that carry strength, pride, and resilience.
Image: Supplied
Past meets present
Heritage Month is as much about embracing today as it is about remembering yesterday, and Musi’s designs reflect this balance.
His colour palette borrows directly from the land: “the deep blue of the water, the maroon and burgundy tones of the sand, the browns of the earth, and the orange glow of the sunlight.”
These earthy hues are set against contemporary silhouettes, grounding modern fashion in an ancient story.
“That balance, between the old and the new, between memory and modernity, is what I think embodies Heritage Month,” he says.
The silhouettes and fabrics in this range echo Krotoa’s resilience.
Image: Supplied
Love letter to women
At its core, the collection is deeply personal. “The message I hope women carry with them when wearing this collection is, first and foremost, a sense of pride,” Musi shares.
“At the launch, I described this body of work as a love letter to South African women. It is my way of honouring the strength, resilience, and kindness that women have shown me, and how those qualities have shaped me as a man.”
Every item is designed to feel like both a tribute and a tool, acknowledging women’s stories while empowering them in daily life.
“Ultimately, my hope is that women feel seen, celebrated, and reminded of their capacity to become so much more than the challenges they carry. This collection is a way of saying: you are the heritage, you are the strength, you are the possibility.”
The earthy hues are set against contemporary silhouettes, grounding modern fashion in an ancient story.
Image: Supplied
Roots run deep
Much of Musi’s creative lens comes from his upbringing.
“My mother was deeply conscious about familiarising me with the African story, while my father had a keen awareness of South Africa and the broader continent. Both were educators, so storytelling and the transference of knowledge were central in our home,” he recalls.
Those conversations about history, identity, and responsibility still fuel his designs today.
They are why he sees fashion not just as aesthetics, but as memory, narrative, and cultural pride.
Musi sees fashion not just as aesthetics, but as memory, narrative, and cultural pride.
Image: Supplied
Musi’s collection forms part of Pick n Pay Clothing’s Futurewear programme, a platform created to nurture and commercialise South African design talent.
This Heritage Month, Thabiso Musi reminds us that heritage is not just something to honour, it is something to wear, reinterpret, and carry forward.
IOL Lifestyle