The signs showed very early in his life. Fashion design is and always has been his destiny. His first encounter with fashion, or fashion product development to be specific, was at the age of seven. Thato Chai used to make soccer jerseys from 25 kg Iwisa maize meal sacks for himself and his teammates back in the late 80’s in the dusty spaces on Vosloorus. The process involved cutting out the arm holes and neck opening.
The branding process followed there after. They’d all choose their favourite jersey numbers and designs that Thato Chai would hand draw on each and every one of them with Bic ball point pen. This was during the time when Kaizer Chiefs was sponsored by Iwisa. Thato Chai was a strong Kaizer Chiefs suppoter at the time so the influence evident.
The second fashion design chapter in his life came during 1999 when Loxion Kulca came out. Thato Chai was actively involved with a group called Damunchies as brand designer and art director. Part of his role was to ensure that Damunchies had nice gear and banners at all their events. This exposed Thato Chai to so many opportunities after that.
The third chapter of his fashion design life came the day he dropped out from Wits Technicon on 2003 to “find himself”. After politely leaving the Software Development class, Thato Chai took a much needed different route back home. He wandered east and got to a place called AFDA. We walked in, young, curious and searching. It didn’t take longer than 10 minutes before he saw a sign that read Loxion Kulca. That was a defining moment in his life. Thato Chai took this moment as sign from God and Amadlozi wakhe.
He met a lot of great people while working at Loxion Kulca and Lokul Kreations. He was part of a new family of creatives. Amongst the greats are Theo Singo, Wandi Nzimande, Sechaba Mogale, Tebogo, Phila, Ernest, Khosi, Gideon Abrahams, Brian Abrahams, Themba and Gabriel. All sorts of doors started to open once he settled in. His professional career accelerated as follows:
