The Sangu Bench collaboration between Katlego Tshuma and Dokter and Misses

“There's what we imagine, there’s what we understand, and there’s what we execute,” says Katlego Tshuma, the 2020 winner of the Nando’s Hot Young Designer talent search. His Sangu Bench concept which won him the top spot was inspired by the ubiquity of the grass mat among several traditional African cultures, where it is used to sit, sleep, and even as a screen. “I realised that I’d have to take grass mats into 2020, in a contemporary way. So I was like…how do I take this concept of grass and put it into a bench, and that is what the Sangu Bench is about,” he explains. Since winning the competition, he has expanded on the initial Sangu concept to design several pieces that make up the collection. The first of piece has been brought to life in collaboration with Adriaan Hugo, the designer and co-founder of the award-winning design studio, Dokter and Misses. Watch the video above to see the process, the final bench, and to hear Tshuma share some lessons from his experience.