South African and world hero Nelson Mandela turns 93 today. The festivities got under way weeks ago all over the world, most notably in South Africa where celebrations lasted for about a week with festivals and parties.
In celebration of this momentous day, we thought we’d take a look at the former Robin Island prisoner’s shirts which garner as much press as the former apartheid fighter.
Designed by Desre Buirski, Mandela’s shirts are silk and hand painted. Called Madiba (shirt), an honorific name to members of his tribe, Mandela was first photographed wearing them in 1994. Back then, he wore a fish printed batik dubbed the Fish Shirt by the press. Buirski, a South African expatriate, returned to her homeland after Mandela was released.
PHOTOS: Weekly Birthday Dopeness
“What brought me home was the fact that we were entering a new phase,” Buirski explained of Presidential Shirts, her website. “The first time I heard this man speak I was struck by the love and forgiveness that flowed from him.”
According to her wesbite, Nelson Mandela wore the famous ‘Fish Shirt,’ the first Presidential Shirt, in public in May 1994. He wore it to the dress rehearsal of the opening of South Africa’s first democratic Parliament, only two weeks after Desre had presented it to one of his personal bodyguards. In the pocket of the shirt, Desre inserted a note which said, “Thank you for your endless love, dedication and sacrifices that you have made to heal this beloved Country and all its people.”
After the break, Mandela in hand painted silk!
[pagebreak]
Nelson Mandela with Tony Blair in a hand painted silk shirt.
[pagebreak]
Mandela in a hand painted silk shirt.
[pagebreak]
Mandela in hand painted silk.
[pagebreak]
Mrs. Obama and Mandela.
[pagebreak]
Mandela & the Queen of England.
