Marnus Botha shares the story behind Cape Town's 2025 festive jersey - IOL

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis wearing the winning 2025 'Wear the Hope' design, alongside its creator Marnus Botha.

As the winner of the City of Cape Town's inaugural Wear the Hope Challenge, Marnus Botha's creative vision took centre stage when Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis donned his "Cape Town Lights of Hope" jersey at the 2025 festive lights switch-on.

Botha drew inspiration for his 2025 jersey, Cape Town Lights of Hope, from the surrounding city: its people, its energy and the way it comes alive during the festive season.

He wanted to turn that feeling into something Capetonians would be proud to wear. The design also carried a reminder that, even in difficult times, there is light to look forward to.

Seeing the Mayor of Cape Town wear the jersey at the festive lights switch-on was, he says, “a very proud and surreal moment”.

“It wasn't just about seeing someone important wearing my design,” he says. “It was about seeing something I created become part of a special moment for the people of Cape Town.”

This year’s theme, Beacon of Hope, gives him another way to think about light. He sees a beacon as something that can guide people through uncertainty and bring them together.

“Hope isn't simply waiting for better days,” he says. “It's about being part of creating them.”

His advice to entrants this year comes from what he learned a year ago: go deeper into the meaning of Beacon of Hope and tell a stronger story through the design.

"Make the garment visually distinctive," he suggests, "while keeping it authentic to Cape Town and something people would want to wear.

"A story can be strongly shaped over a year," Botha said.