Valore Diligenta enters the fashion industry in style

Ntikelo Diligent Rikhotso (21), also known as Valore Diligenta, is a self-taught, hardworking local fashion designer.

Rikhotso had been intrigued by the art of fashion from a young age. As a child, her mother told her how she (mother) and her siblings had to wear the same clothes every day when they grew up, because those were all they had.

“It dawned on me that if you cannot afford to buy new clothes, you can always make your own,” she said.

Later in her life she met tailor Mutshidzi Hobyani, who inspired her to consider venturing into fashion designing. “I didn’t think I would be able to really do it at first,” she confessed. “After the first period of lockdown in 2020, I was at home from varsity and unfortunately, like many other students, I had only brought home clothes for two weeks. I had worn all my clothes and was left with nothing to wear. Then I considered the idea of making new clothes for myself. I bought wool and started learning how to do crotchet by watching tutorials on YouTube.”

When the lockdown restrictions relaxed, she bought a sewing machine, so she could expand her skills. “After some more YouTube lessons to show me the ropes, I had a little more confidence that I was doing the right thing and that it was possible to learn and master the craft,” she said.

Today she runs her own fashion business, called VD Emporium, which was established in 2020. “To be honest, my first few projects were horrible, but my family always cheered me on. I thank God for them. All those encouraging words were a foundation for my strength and motivation to keep going.” Her biggest dream is to design clothes for exclusive and high-profile occasions.

Valore Diligenta is available on most social-media platforms and can be reached on Tel 072 467 4409.

Date:21 November 2021

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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