The South African hit series “Shaka iLembe” received honors at the recent Septimius Awards in Amsterdam. The series received two awards: Best Costume Design and Best African Actress, which was given to Nomzamo Mbatha for her performance as Queen Nandi.
Lemogang Letsipa, who plays the young Shaka Zulu, was also nominated for Best African Actor.
Sheli Masondo, the costume designer for the famous television series, received the Best Costume Design Award.
“It was an amazing feeling to be recognised on an international stage and to be in a category where other costume designers did magnificent work.
“I didn’t expect to win. I’m very grateful that we can tell our stories in our language with our authentic traditional outfits,” said Masondo.
She explained that she spent over a year researching the period 1700s/1800s to ensure historical accuracy.
“I visited KwaZulu-Natal museums, went through the archives, met with historians, searched across the continent for inspiration, to make sure that I got the look of the period right.”
She further explained that she found old men and women who still craft the original traditional pieces of costume.
“For example, a Mbata is a Zulu traditional chest guard handmade from animal skin, exclusively worn by the Royal family. Only the king or his wife can wear leopard skin.”
Masondo said that finding the old people who still make the costumes was instructive in that apart from a few modern techniques, Zulu costume has not evolved much through the centuries.
“When I created the costumes for the show, to derive inspiration, I walked empty fields – looking at the birds, the trees, their bark, the fine textures, the veins on the leaves.”
“It was very emotional for me. It was more than design. It was like stepping into my ancestor’s shoes and I was blown away by how creative they were, using whatever surrounded them.”
“There were no lace ribbons, fabric, sequins and beads… they used the natural things around them.” she said.
“It was a spiritual moment for me. I was blessed that I had support. People from Kwa Ndebele, from KZN, and from Johannesburg… they could translate everything that I envisioned, that I had brought back from my research into Shaka Ilembe costumes.”
