Bonang Matheba marked her return to South Africa with a first-for-Africa Steve Madden collaboration. The behind-the-scenes of the historic deal and much more were unveiled in the media mogul’s recently relaunched B’Dazzled YouTube series.
Bonang ‘B’Dazzled’ new episode highlights: Steve Madden collab, dating life, Major League DJs
On Monday, 16 January 2023, Matheba wowed her fans with a brand new episode of the popular web series.
This time, the House of BNG queen took us behind the making of her collab with Steve Madden and peppered between random blurbs of things to come, the 35-year-old former New Yorker dropped interesting hints about her dating life.
Early in the episode, Matheba meets Steve Madden South Africa’s management team, Tumelo Mmusi, Marketing Manager for Africa, and Country Manager Michelle Da Fonseca, for a discussion over her vision of the collab.
While details around the deal remain relatively unknown, a presser released by Mail and Guardian back in November 2022 suggested that Matheba was recruited by the brand to curate its Holiday Select Collection for the Spring/Summer season.
According to Steve Madden South Africa, Matheba selected six footwear and two handbag styles from the collection, and a hint dropped by Mmusi on the episode suggests she may be in line to curate looks for the 2023 Holiday Select Collection as part of a 24-month deal with the brand.
In the B’Dazzled premiere, however, Matheba, whose currently embroiled in a fiery legal battle over her intellectual property rights in the House of BNG deal, specifically described the Steve Madden deal as a shoe collab that’s been in the works since she first held talks with the brand’s global team in New York, in 2019.
‘You know what’s so fascinating about Steve Madden? Two years ago. 2019, on a ‘Very Bonang Year’ I was in New York City. I met with a shoe designer and I remember I was really planning a shoe collection. During my travels in New York City and Manchester and London, I remember thinking, ‘I want something that really kind of personifies my big, bubbly personality’, you know?…
“I always wanted it to be bigger and larger than life but also shoes that made you feel like you’re stepping on a red carpet. Like, you’re an actual mega superstar. Fast forward to 2022 and here we are! I got a call from Steve Madden and [they] said, ‘hey, girl! do you feel like doing a shoe collab?’ I thought, duh! I’ve been waiting for this moment. I almost, like, manifested it!” she exclaimed.
Queen B also teased fans about possibly bringing the camera closer to her private dating life, which she described as “absolutely fascinating.”
“Like, it changes all the time. It ebbs and flows, ups and downs, local-international, that’s all I can say,” she hinted.
Another highlight of the episode came when, in the middle of a cackle between Matheba and her assistants, the House of BNG star shut down rumours linking her to one of the Major League DJs.
“Also, I talk about everything people think, like, ‘oh, I am beefing with this on’e’, ‘f****** that one’, ‘I’m dating a Major League DJ?’. Am I, really? Last time I checked I wasn’t,” Matheba said.
Matheba’s YouTube series is directed by Teddy Geldart, South Africa’s powerhouse reality TV maestro with several top-billing shows on Showmax.
Release dates for the next episode have yet to be confirmed.