When Fashion Meets Tech – how Thesis Lifestyle brand designer Robert Mapomane stays ahead of fashion trends with Mac
Designing cutting-edge fashion pieces takes skill, patience, and the helping hand of a powerhouse machine. We caught up with Robert Mapomane from Thesis Lifestyle to find out how his MacBook Pro helps him bring his designs to life without delay.
Fashion is an industry defined by its ability to inspire, move, and innovate something as simple as day-to-day wear. One of the most popular sections of the industry is streetwear – especially t-shirts, hats, and accessories with trendy and cutting-edge print designs and icons.
Thesis Lifestyle is a fashion brand that speaks to the young and energetic culture of Jozi street style. Considered a local favourite, with their original base store nestled in the heart of Soweto, this lifestyle fashion brand is curated toward their young, vibrant, and trend-central fashion market.
We caught up with designer and art director of Thesis Lifestyle, Robert Mapomane, to find out how he stays ahead of the design trends and the tools he puts his faith in.
“I am a graphic designer and art director for Thesis Lifestyle,” explains Mapomane.
“The business was started in 2005 by Randy Lenshi, and since then we’ve been growing quite substantially. Now, we have, like, three stores.”
As a designer, Mapomane relies on high-end processing software like Adobe Creative Suite apps – namely, Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects. Software like this can be taxing and heavy on most devices, which is why he opts for the speedy, reliable, and resilient MacBook Pro device.
“My daily essential product has to be my MacBook Pro because that’s where I do a lot of designing,” Mapomane shares. “What I found beneficial about their product is the processing power, the speed – where you can work rapidly fast and you can have multiple software open.”
This is a feature he’s particularly grateful for, especially when running and working across his go-to three apps – Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects simultaneously.
“I also like the battery life as well – I like how the battery life lasts longer for me to work and I can be able to work long hours as well,” he adds.
Beyond his reliance on his powerhouse MacBook Pro, Mapomane enjoys the convenience of Apple’s AirDrop feature – making the ability to transfer designs or reference inspiration material from his MacBook to his iPhone, and vice versa, an easy and painless experience.
“When I’m taking inspiration from my iPhone and AirDrop-ing them to my MacBook Pro, it becomes way easier for me. I don’t have to worry about transferring devices,” Mapomane says.
This synergy between the devices has also made scheduling calls and taking business calls an easy and convenient process – whether working on his iPhone or MacBook Pro.
“FaceTime becomes easy. I can link my iPhone and my MacBook Pro to answer my calls,” he explains.
This tool helps him and the Thesis Lifestyle team to prioritise customer relations and customer service – a factor they believe is the tell-tale sign of a successful brand and its growth potential.
And while he works on a MacBook Pro device for work, he also has a fond memory of the first Mac his mom got him growing up. The MacBook workflow has been something sentimental for his design journey and an aspirational tool of success those he admired worked on before.
“When my mom got me my first Mac, it was like I was on top of the world. I was super excited because I’ve seen the people that I look up to have these products,” enthuses Mapomane.
“That Mac – I still have it today, and I can still go back to the first designs that I did for the shop. So, it keeps me going and inspires me a lot on my journey – to see where I started and where I am now.”
While their original, or heritage store is in Soweto, the brand also has stores located in two other areas – Orlando and Protea Glen. They also have an online store for their customers who prefer the e-commerce way of life and can order from anywhere in Johannesburg and the rest of South Africa.
As for the future of the brand, their team hopes to work towards having their own studios – where they have a fully formed design team. Either way, Mapomane believes that Apple and Mac products will be there along this journey at every step of the way.
“I see where the future is going and I think Apple can really help our business grow in that way,” shares Mapomane.
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