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Fashion graduates to get industry showcase |
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Written by Angie Hattingh
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Monday, 17 November 2008 |
Fashion students graduating in 2008 will for the first time show their final year collections on Wednesday 26 November on a professional platform at a new event – The Graduate Shows powered by Prefueled and Mibli - providing a central showcase to streamline their introduction to the industry as a whole, and the fashion media in particular.
The Graduate Shows are powered by online music store, Prefueled and mobile app-provider Mibli, and co-sponsored by the Cape Town Fashion Council (CTFC) and African Fashion International.
The Design Academy of Fashion, Cape Town College of Fashion Design and the fashion department of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), spearheaded by the Cape Town Fashion Council in partnership with African Fashion International, launched The Graduate Shows powered by Prefueled and Mibli as a means to provide graduating students with a launchpad into the industry.
The CTFC launched an education sub-committee to actively assist student designers in enabling them to successfully launch their fashion careers. Bryan Ramkilawan, Chairperson of the CTFC Education Sub-committee says "The main objective for the establishment of The Graduate Shows powered by Prefueled and Mibli will provide graduates from fashion and textile related courses in the Western Cape the opportunity to have a professionally staged fashion show with maximum exposure to be seen by key industry role players and potential employers."
The event will be an annual showcase and is envisioned to raise the overall standard of graduate and young designer fashion in the Western Cape. Each participating graduate will have the opportunity to present a collection of at least 5 individual looks and to create a proper ‘look book’ to use in their new professional careers.
"The Graduate Shows powered by Prefueled and Mibli will streamline the process of exposing young talent to industry by grouping schools together to have more impact, attract greater coverage and save costs,” says Ramkilawan. "It will provide a window to what is happening at graduate level in the Western Cape, and it will set the benchmark for quality and innovation in graduate fashion design."
All production will be professionally organised by fashion week specialists, African Fashion International (AFI), owners and operators of the Virgin Mobile Cape Town Fashion Week and other fashion weeks around the country.
Evan Schiff, spokesperson for AFI says: "At AFI we are dedicated to emerging talent and industry development in South Africa. As part of this development mandate, it was a natural fit to lend our support to this initiative to uncover and nurture rising fashion talent"
AFI will produce the event to the highest professional standards, including top models, show production, staging, photography and lighting elements. Professional hair care will be handled by L'Oreal Professionnel in conjunction with Terenzo Hair, and make up services by Cape Town-based make up school, The Makeup Issue - further developing crucial talent in the industry.
African Fashion International’s weekly fashion television show, African Couture on SABC3, will cover both the designers' preparations and the event itself, giving mass market exposure to the aspiring designers.
As part of its sponsorships, AFI will also include the top 5 designers, as judged by the organisers, in its joint CSI initiative with SABC3 to dress its Fab Five on-air presenters. This initiative was recently extended for another 6 months, and gives designers exposure to an audience of over 7-million consumers.
As an additional incentive for student designers to give their all, AFI will give a joint show to the top 3 designers on South Africa’s premier industry fashion showcase, Virgin Mobile Cape Town Fashion Week - another AFI property. Says Schiff: "We are doing all we can to provide opportunities for the next generation of fashion designers, who will be the future of the industry."
Malissa Malheiro, Marketing Manager of Prefueled and Mibli, says: "Prefueled and Mibli are focused on providing the latest online and mobile content to satisfy the increasing demands of techno-savvy youth. We see the opportunity of supporting young design talent as crucial the upliftment of the creative and vibrant urban youth culture in South Africa."
The event will take place on Wednesday 26 November at fashion venue The Runway in Woodstock.
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