Creative Director & Photography Nondumiso Shange
Interviews Pelo Masebelanga & Kemiso Wessie
Art Director Tracy Mokgopo
Styling Mihlali Jiya
Photography Assistant Hlengiwe Lala
MUA Shakirah Sithole
Set Assistant Simphiwe Shange
Atang
In this exploration of an unexpected journey into the modelling world intertwined with a passion for football, Atang Malebo reflects on the intersections shaping their identity and creative pursuits. As a centre-back turned model, the narrative delves into the fusion of routine and self-discovery, drawing parallels between the monotony of defence in soccer and the discipline required in the fashion industry.
How did your unexpected journey into the modelling world intersect with your passion for football and how has the combination of these two aspects shaped your identity or creative pursuits?
Atang: I started in 2022 because people kept telling me to model. I guess I was just in a period in my life where I was trying out new things, you know, cause, I’m a bit conservative and reluctant when it comes to trying new things. I’m not a person who likes change and is very set in my ways. But I’ve been playing soccer since primary school as a centre-back and there was a time where I wanted to get into club football. So I went to trials for SuperSport, joined the academy and played from grade seven until grade ten, that’s like a good three to four years. Now I play soccer for fun because I just graduated and I’m trying to use my IT degree, hoping to find something more stable, maybe coding, and modelling is still a side gig at this point.
Creatively, modelling and football have both helped me bring out my personality a bit more. I gained a sense of confidence where I was comfortable in my own skin and that helped me in terms of clothes I wear. I found more of what I’m into because I feel like before that I hadn’t found my style but I feel like modelling helped me unlock that. Centre-backs and don’t have much expression, what they do is really monotonous, but I feel it’s also representative of my character. I like routine, I don’t like unstable things. In defense, you have one job, to stop the attack, only one job, that’s your job, so I think it’s also helped me in a way to be more acquainted with myself.
Being a Black male model, how has your experience navigating the creative industry been influenced by your racial identity, and in what ways do you strive to contribute to greater diversity and representation within the field?
Atang: Currently, there are a lot of Black people in the creative space which helps me relate to the people on set. Maybe they feel more comfortable with me because I’ll most likely speak their language and we can communicate, converse and relate to each other. I think it’s helped me build a lot of meaningful relationships. I’ve also made a few friends in the industry. But at first glance, a few people don’t think I’m Black but when I say I’m Black it’s a pleasant surprise to them and they are just more open towards me. I also think there are opportunities for Black people because I think currently the fashion world is heavily invested in the culture of Black people and what they represent.
I always think about how I can make my little contribution towards diversity and representation in the creative space just to inspire people around me where I live. I’m from Soweto and there’s not much opportunity that’s out there compared to Johannesburg, I want people to think that they can also do it because I have.
Can you share a specific moment in your modelling career where your personal experiences or background played a significant role in shaping the narrative or concept of a particular project?
Atang: I think this project actually would be something that incorporates a lot of my personal experiences. As a soccer player, in a way I am the goalkeeper of my life. This is the first time it’s actually happened where my personal experiences influenced or shaped the concept of a shoot.
Having not initially intended to become a model, how do you perceive the intersection between your authentic self and the expectations of the industry, and how has this unexpected path impacted your creative expression?
Atang: The industry expects you to be a bit more open minded, do certain things that you wouldn’t do in your normal daily life. It’s very tricky navigating that because you have to sort of sacrifice your comfort. However, I know myself and the different roles I could be playing in like certain shoots or whatever is expected of me, doesn’t hinder or affect who I am in my normal life. I always have to think “I’m here for a job. I execute it and after the job, it’s done. It’s behind me. I don’t stay in character.” I don’t get lost in the character and that’s not something I’ve ever struggled with.
I’ve been exposed to so many things and have met a lot of different people and personalities which has given me a better perspective of life. I’ve discovered things about myself and I think that’s how it’s helped me express myself creatively and develop my character a bit more.
Your passion for football is evident; how does this love for the sport inform or influence your modelling work, and are there specific parallels or lessons from football that you apply to your creative journey in the fashion industry?
Atang: I think my love for football has over time made me more disciplined because you can have a love for something but it won’t really go anywhere if you don’t have discipline. I’ve learned discipline when it comes to football, having to go to practice every single day and I think with modelling, the discipline of having to attend castings in order to learn jobs, being respectful to people on set. It helps build your reputation as a model in the industry.
I always think about how I can make my little contribution towards diversity and representation in the creative space to inspire people around me where I live.
Can you describe your relationship with your masculinity as a South African man?
Atang: There’s a lot of expectations in terms of being a provider, mostly financially. I think that’s what I really hate about being a man, just all the expectations. The societal reaction towards you when you don’t really have anything going for you or if life isn’t really treating you the best at the moment, people just look down on you.
I can’t say there’s anything good because I don’t really consider myself as someone who views things according to gender, you shouldn’t be confined by it and growing up in Soweto, where it’s not like that. The community is obviously still very Black and predominantly filled with older people who have very “traditional” views.
How difficult is it to get away from those societal expectations when you are living in some area where it’s usually magnified? How difficult is that? Especially growing up.
Atang: Yeah, it is. The main consensus is that men shouldn’t be soft and grow up in the hood. Something as simple as a kid playing on the street and they fall, they’d make fun of you for crying. They’d say “why are you crying? You shouldn’t be crying. You should be strong.” It’s hard to get away from that environment because most people think that way so you only see other perspectives once you leave that environment.
I went to school in Pretoria and got to see another side of life, I met people who thought differently and it was refreshing.
I think you have to just reach a point where you are comfortable in yourself, in your own skin, and you don’t care what other people think of you, if you are sensitive, you know, if you are an emotional person, um, I think you just have to reach that point in your life. And I think growing up is hard. You have to find yourself first, it’s not something you get just off the bat.
How do you perceive yourself? How different is this from how other people see you and how do you deal with that on set or on the field?
Atang: If someone doesn’t know me, they would perceive me as very uptight, very quiet and to themselves. I’m an introvert and it takes time for me to open up to people. I don’t make relationships very easy but I am social, it’s just that you have to get to know me. I need these two personalities because I have a lot of anxiety and think I’m too socially aware,
thinking about what everyone else is doing around me, what they think of me and it plays in my head too much. I’m a very emotional person but obviously if you don’t really know me, you don’t really see that because I’m so closed off initially. On set, it makes people a bit uncomfortable because they don’t know how to approach me, they can’t read me, they can’t get anything off of me and I do notice people being a bit more hesitant to talk to me compared to another model on set. The fashion world is a space where people are very carefree and open and when they meet someone who’s the opposite, it’s hard for them to deal with that.
Can you describe the men in your family?
Atang: They fit the stereotype of what a man “should be ‘’, don’t show emotion, very closed off, aggressive, dominant, heavily into discipline, they rule with an iron fist. There aren’t many of them that are expressive and aren’t confined by their gender but mostly it’s the typical Black man.
Is it kind of difficult to stick to those morals that you have said for yourself when you’re around them? Um, no, it’s not. It’s not because it’s not, However, I think they have figured out that I’m my own person so they don’t encourage me to be like them, I let them be who they are and that has nothing to do with me. The way they think can be narrow minded, what they think a man should be but there’s more to that and more to life.
What is your relationship with masculinity in soccer in terms of team culture and dynamics?
Atang: I associate it with the strength required in soccer, it’s a very physical sport. You have to go into tackles hard, you can’t be gentle, otherwise you’re gonna be run over, it’s either you or them. That’s the mentality you have to have and it becomes incorporated in your life, the sense of having to be strong, not showing a lot of emotion, not letting people see you because you don’t want to be pushed around in life. You can’t give away too much for the other opponent to use to their advantage.
What is your relationship with your masculinity and modelling?
Atang: I have found it difficult to do certain things because it’s not something I’d do in my normal life, in terms of clothing and makeup. Initially I wasn’t a fan of it because it didn’t like to go along with my masculine side but it’s something I got over with time.
It’s helped me have an open mind, it doesn’t take anything from me and shouldn’t create a perception because it’s just a part of the job. If you do have a problem with something like makeup and clothing it means you aren’t comfortable in yourself or your masculinity.
Thomas & Francesco
Francesco Mbele’s relationship with his father Thomas offers a glimpse of the transformative nature of a relationship based on trust and honesty. Here, tenderness and intention wear away at the historically-hardened face of masculinity in South Africa and serve as catalysts for the kind of discovery, self-actualisation and creative expression that knows no bounds – not even age.
How did your experiences as a Black Muslim man in post-apartheid South Africa, as well as your creative career, influence how you raised Francesco?
Thomas: Embracing Islam was a great step to take coming from a staunch Catholic background. When ‘76 came, young, active people were exposed to a lot of literature from abroad. In fact, one of my friend’s uncles, who was a lecturer at UPenn, would bring us tapes about the Black Panther Movement and the Nation of Islam. We were really moved by what people in similar situations were doing and I gradually became hooked on Islam’s way of doing things, even though I stayed a Catholic until ‘79. This was important in the way I chose to raise my kids.
I met his mom in Italy and we got married in the early 90s. My friends said I was crazy because you basically couldn’t talk to white people, but we always felt the need to challenge the system – what you young people today would call ‘disrupting’. She wasn’t Muslim – in fact, she was very much anti-Islam. With time, as we had our kids, she embraced it and realised it was a lack of knowledge fuelling that hate. When we bought our first house in Emmarentia, we thought the idea of raising kids in post-apartheid South Africa was a good thing because of the value system. What I found very interesting was that there were massive similarities between the African way of doing things and Islam, so it became very easy for me to instil this way of life in them because that was how my parents spoke to and treated me. I’ve always made it a point that my kids have and use their own minds whilst growing up under Islam, albeit with an African twist. I loved that I didn’t have to move away from our culture. Honestly, I’m happy. What I’ve seen up until now is a young person who is very steadfast in what he believes in, who maintains respect for all people, and who became an independent entrepreneur. If you’ll allow me, I can go into how he became such an enterprising person.
When I was working for Siemens, I’d travel overseas often and buy a lot of clothes on sale. Friends began asking me “Hey, Thom, where did you buy this? Can you sell it to me?” and it became a passion – to go, buy and sell. With my wife having been a trainer for the Benetton group, we were able to get a lot of stock from them when their South African base closed down, and that’s when we started trading seriously (before he was born, that is). As he grew up, whenever there were activities at school, especially during the World Cup, he would trouble me to take him to Bree Street every weekend so he could buy all sorts of football jerseys so he could sell them at school. There was one event at school – and this is when I started taking him seriously – when he told me he didn’t want to sell anything common. We used to buy a lot of Italian products (water, drinks, cheese and the sort) at an Italian Deli so I took him and he bought these tiny cold drinks called chinotto in all kinds of colours and flavours.
Later, we started going to the flea market near the Market Theatre and to Dunusa, and I really enjoyed that. He even went beyond me – he started going on his own and developed a relationship with the guys. Within a short space of time, this guy was already selling clothes online. Next thing I hear, he’s ordering stuff from Japan and China. He’d also help us push the Prada bags and clothes that my wife and I bought overseas.
How did your upbringing and interactions with your father’s line of work influence your entry into the creative industry, and how has that history shaped your creative journey?
Francesco: When my parents would bring in and sell clothes from brands like Benetton, it gave me a new perspective on global fashion. They’d also bring a lot of imported magazines and when I was younger, I’d just flip through them and think “these are pretty pictures”, “oh, that’s a nice brand”, “that’s a cool style” etc.. As I got older – when I was able to read and actually comprehend the contents of the magazines – they became (and still are) an important reference for me. This is alongside the influence of the designer clothes they’d bring in like Miu Miu, Helmut Lang, Issey Miyake – these sort of avant-garde, subversive styles which are only now becoming more widely known and accessible. At that point in time, fashion magazines were the primary source of what was in, what was out and what would become popular. Those magazines and the conversations I’d have with my parents influenced me the most. Benetton is actually the main influence for my brand, Franasonic.
How has Francesco’s personal and professional growth impacted your life and how you relate to him and the world around you?
Thomas: Francesco’s personal life has exposed me to social media, which I never really came to grips with, being ‘old skool’. I’ve learned that the tendency to stereotype is erased through these platforms. For example, when I was growing up, in situations where Black people and white people befriended each other, the white children were invariably briefed by their parents on what to discuss and what kinds of questions to ask when they engaged with Black people. Through social media and interacting with Francesco and his friends, I’ve realised that things are no longer like that. People engage because they’re inquisitive and because of the ubiquitous nature of social media – they can see things happening in different places. It has definitely influenced me positively. Today, my outlook on life is completely different and it is for that reason that I accepted this invitation. You no longer have to be grounded on the basis of your age – social media says everything is at your disposal.
Professionally, it has demonstrated to me that he knows what he’s about and that time is very important to him. It has just engendered a high level of respect for him as an individual and, in that way, I’ve also grown. I’ve shedded my preconceptions about young people, and life in general.
From a young age, my father allowed me to be quite liberal with how I treated all aspects of life. He’s allowed me to fully be myself. Even if he didn’t understand or was resistant to what I was doing at first, he’d be open to me at least trying and I think what a lot of young people need is the space to try, regardless of the chance of failure.
You speak highly of your father. What are the key things you admire about him that you also take into your creative work?
Francesco: From a young age, my father allowed me to be quite liberal with how I treated all aspects of life. He’s allowed me to fully be myself. Even if he didn’t understand or was resistant to what I was doing at first, he’d be open to me at least trying and I think what a lot of young people need is the space to try, regardless of the chances of failure. When you’re simply given the opportunity to attempt, not only will you be able to find what you like but the relationship between parent & child is strengthened through the trust that’s given.
He himself has always stepped outside of his comfort zone. From what I’ve heard about when he was younger, he was never afraid to try or see something new. So when I had the opportunity to go to Paris in 2023, I didn’t second guess it and I was encouraged to go. Although it was the first time I’d be going anywhere by myself, he trusted me to figure it out. I’ve adopted that sense of fearlessness in life and in my work.
You’re quite a multifaceted creative – you’re a model, a creative director, a gallerist and more. Which aspects of the field do you identify with most and how did your relationship with your father shape that?
Francesco: Over the years, I’ve dipped my toes into a lot of different mediums and workspaces, and had the opportunity to try a lot of things out – again, because of the trust that my dad gave me. Something I’m really looking forward to doing in the coming years is really focusing on my own platform and that comes from witnessing my father wanting to take control of the things he was working on. When he was younger, he was a trade unionist, he travelled while working for IBM and Siemens, and he’d also sell clothes, often all at the same time. I was able to bring his multifacetedness into my own life. When it was time to work on his own thing, he was able to open his own stall at the Sunday Market with my mom – he was able to constantly reinvent himself.
I think, most importantly, allowing yourself to make mistakes and figure out what works for you also comes from being a multidimensional person. Right now, I’m inspired to bring everything I’m doing into one place – Franasonic. I hope that this year, I’m able to focus a lot more energy on the platform, and my dad will be helping me out like he always has.
Simba & Wes
One word: Symbiosis. While twin brothers Simba and Wes already hail from an artistic family, it is partnership, vulnerability, and perspective that turn their regular sibling relationship into a varied creative collaboration. The recipe, in their words, is a firm knowledge of self, an appreciation of one’s roots, a tender devotion to every choice of action, and embracing each other wholly.
How did your upbringing and shared experiences as brothers influence your entry into the creative industry, and how has that bond shaped your collaborative creative journey?
Simba: We’ve always been exposed to some form of creativity. Our dad used to draw and our mom was known for carrying a film camera with her everywhere she went. Also, one of our elder brothers is a graphic designer and the other used to shoot, and I guess we unintentionally picked up and played around with his equipment. The more we learnt about what those ‘toys’ were, the more we developed our love for what we do now.
Wes: We grew up around creatives. As Simba said, one of our older brothers (who are also twins) is a graphic designer and the other was a photographer. Our brother passed down all his gear to us when he chose to go a different route and Simba started taking photographs of me, making me his muse. That’s how we both jumped into the creative space.
Can you share a pivotal moment or project that highlighted the unique dynamic between you two and significantly impacted your individual perspectives within the creative sphere?
Simba: I don’t often focus on highlights, per se, so I wouldn’t say there’s been a specific project that has been pivotal (yet). That being said, I’m grateful to be killing set days with my brother – we always lift each other up when one is overwhelmed because what we do is such emotive work. Wes has a distinct eye and he always pushes me to see things differently.
Wes: For me, the most pivotal moment was when we broke into the film space and began figuring out our paths. Simba’s more into the ‘ideological’ part – writing and coming up with ideas – whereas I’m more about building the picture and beautifying the film. It makes our job easier and more fun, and we create the best things because we bring our different perspectives together.
The most important takeaway for me has been to always remember who you are and to be unapologetically yourself. Once you’re aware of that – of self – the rest follows naturally. The confidence, the freedom of expression… you’re not holding back. In a way, almost everything we do is a reflection of what one has been through.
In what ways have your differing styles and preferences enhanced or challenged your collaborative efforts, and how have you navigated these differences to create more synergistic work?
Simba: I wouldn’t regard our creative styles as being far off from each other. I think what brings us closer is our similar tastes and being inspired by the same work. The translation and the execution is usually different, of course, and that has definitely taught me patience, the spirit of collaboration, how to pay attention to detail, as well as understand the reasoning behind his creative choices in certain projects.
Wes: I’d say we definitely do have different creative styles but we haven’t yet delved into executing solo projects. This year, we’ll be tapping more into our individuality and I’m really keen to see what we’ll create in our own spaces.
Reflecting on your personal growth: how have the challenges and successes in your personal lives influenced the themes and narratives present in your creative work?
Simba: The most important takeaway for me has been to always remember who you are and to be unapologetically yourself. Once you’re aware of that – of self – the rest follows naturally. The confidence, the freedom of expression… you’re not holding back. In a way, almost everything we do is a reflection of what one has been through.
Wes: We grew up working class, so our work involves trying to capture and retell stories from that experience, and convey that energy.
As siblings in the creative industry, how do you manage to balance your unique artistic voices with drawing inspiration from each other, and how has this duality contributed to the evolution of your individual creative expressions?
Simba: I believe it’s crucial to embrace each other’s identities and never shun another’s uniqueness. Without the ability to hold space for each other, no new ideas can be shared or created freely – you basically can’t connect if the other party isn’t allowed to be themselves. I think being able to work together as brothers has allowed us to blend our personal senses of creativity with a sense of collaboration. We both bring what we think is fire to the table.
Wes: I agree with Simba – we give each other space to present our different perspectives and it produces the coolest results. Seeing that the time to express our artistry individually is drawing near, I’m excited to use what I’ve learnt from our projects to execute and refine my own visions.
The concept and reality of Blackness has a particularly complex reputation, especially in this industry. How has your relationship with it shaped your creative journey?
Simba: Blackness informs our narratives because it’s core to who we are. As I mentioned before, the messaging stems from your identity. Trying to navigate that has never been easy because, for the longest time (and still today), Black people have lived through a state of never belonging, constantly being made to feel inadequate, and having to conform. I think we’re at a point where we’re all collectively unpacking these layers and translating that authenticity into everything we do.
Wes: Being Black is powerful. We hold so much beauty, effortlessly. I move with that energy through my work and everything else I do. I also love filming and lensing Black skin. I feel like there’s so much richness in it and we have many stories to tell.
Enjoyed this story? Help keep independent queer-led publishing alive and unlock the BRICKS Learner Platform, full of resources for emerging and aspiring creatives sent to you every week via newsletter. Start your 30-day free trial now.