There are large panels of brown paper cut into arcs on Bongiwe Walaza's wide wooden desk. A sturdy pair of sewing scissors rests between the patterns.
Walaza moves with an easy grace. She wears large silver hoop earrings, chunky silver jewellery and a simple flowing black dress held loosely around the waist with a thin black studded belt.
She is the queen of shweshwe design, using the starched printed cotton that has become synonymous with African-inspired couture.
"Every time I look at shweshwe fabrics, they inspire me, probably because I'm from a Xhosa background where it is used a lot for ma-khoti [new brides]," says Walaza, who is from the Eastern Cape village of Mqanduli.
The fabric — also known in Sesotho as seshoeshoe, after the Basotho King Moshoeshoe for whom many believed it was named — was once used to create simple traditional dresses, but has now become part of a mass fashion movement, largely thanks to Walaza.
The streets surrounding Jo'burg CBD's Fashion Kapitol, opposite which Walaza's studio is based, house shop after shop displaying shweshwe dresses, and many of the people milling around them wear designs crafted of the fabric.
But although one might expect the popularity of the iconic material to bolster the ailing textile industry in the country, producers from overseas have tapped into the fabric's popularity and are eroding the local market with counterfeit products.
Who ‘owns' shweshwe?
The now distinctly African fabric has its roots in Europe. It was introduced to the South Africans by German immigrants in the mid-1800s and locals began using the white-patterned fabric in its rich earthy colours to make dresses and skirts.
‘You can't outdo the original'
Not only does the fabric that gives Bongiwe Walaza's garments their unique appeal face counterfeiting, but so do her designs.
"Besides the Chinese, I'm talking about local dressmakers and shop owners. They see my designs at South African Fashion Week, and make their own. I see my designs in their shop windows," said Walaza.
The rip-off artists reproduce her designs but "economise", said Walaza, using inferior fabric and missing a step here or there.
Legally, there is little that can be done to protect Walaza, who works in an industry fraught with wrangles over the appropriation of intellectual property.
"My consolation is that this is a God-given idea. No one can take it away from me."
Although Walaza has lost some customers to counterfeits, she has gained new ones. Her customer base has gone international and people from London, the United States, Senegal and Italy have shown interest.
"I don't think people will ever be able to outdo the original."