We meet the man behind Skolopad’s most talked about looks

Cape Town - QwaQwa born fashion designer Teboho Monatisa is the man behind local entertainer Skolopad's most iconic red carpet looks. 

The 34-year-old designer went to school in QwaQwa and studied Fashion Design Technology at Linea Academy, before launching Monadecious Designs. 

Teboho has been exclusively dressing Skolopad since May, including her Durban July look and the now infamous "wors" dress.    

The talented designer says that he met Skolopad (real name Nonhlanhla Qwabe) on Facebook. He says: "I used to go to high school with her friend. One day I made a jumpsuit for her friend, and Skolopad just loved it. She also wanted one."

About working with Skolopad he says: "It's hectic. She keeps me on my toes with her crazy ideas. I've always wanted to make dresses that made people talk and then she came along."

Even before she made her red carpet debut at the Metro FM awards in February, Teboho wanted to dress Skolopad. But their schedules just never seemed to align.  

But after the statement she made in that revealing yellow dress at the Metro FM Awards, Tebogo took on the responsibility to do "damage control." I told her: "We need to fix your image."

Tebogo has designed all Skolopad's most iconic looks including the jumpsuit she wore to the Samas and the much talked about, "wors dress." 

The first outfit he ever designed for her was a brown and gold leotard, inspired by bees. And it's also his favourite. Teboho and Skolopad recently shared photos from their photo shoot on Instagram, titled: "The richness is summer."     

The outfit was made especially for her to wear to a small event in Bethlehem. 

But as one would expect working with Skolopad is super-fun, Teboho explains: "She is such a drama queen. She knows exactly what she wants. And how she wants people to react to what she is wearing."

He adds: "I just tell her 'okay.' I'll sketch and then we'll either agree or disagree. But she always agrees. So it's always fun."

Speaking about her most recent look, the infamous "wors" dress, Teboho laughs saying: "I don't know what Skolopad was thinking."

He explained how the whole concept came about: " I went to the hospital with my wife, it so happened that Skolopad was there. She told me that she wanted something for the Feather Awards but she wasn't sure what she wanted."

"We started talking. And she said she wanted to wear 'wors.' I asked 'like are you serious? How do you want to wear it?,'" he adds. 

Skolopad explained that she wanted to wear a bra, and sew the wors onto the bra. Teboho reaction: "No! You can't do it that way! That is going to be a mess!"

Teboho then decided to buy the plastic: "When I explained my idea she said, 'lets go.' So, we got into the car, I left my wife at the hospital and we bought the plastic. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but all I could think was 'lets cover this thing." 

While talking us through the process, Teboho is laughing uncontrollably: "I don't call it a dress. I call it a plastic bag. She wore a plastic bag."

He adds that he just abosultely loves working with Skolopad: "I love her ideas. Even when we make mistakes, we just carry on."

When asked if he could design for any celebrity, who it would be, he answers: "Trevor Noah. I would create suits and coats, he has the clean kind of look that I like. And he is international."

Monadecious is also a management agency for models and musicians. Currently they have two artists signed. And 50 runway models, including juniors.

Take a look at Teboho's other designs here: