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Upcoming stars of South African fashion will flaunt their talents for the first time in the public arena when the prestigious young fashion designers competition, the Old Mutual Vukani Fashion Awards, takes place later this month.
Fourteen young finalists have been selected from 450 entries countrywide for the 14th staging of the awards that takes place in Tshwane from 14-17 May.
The emerging creatives’ stylish fashion collections - inspired by the theme "Youth brands culture - a simple solution for success" will be showcased at the Food Court of the Menlyn Shopping Centre in Pretoria on Saturday, 17 May at noon. Entrance is free to the public.
That evening the Vukani Awards winners will be announced at a gala dinner, attended by inspirational fashion figures from South Africa and the rest of the continent.
Celebrities that will attend the awards evening will include Angolan Jose Rui Lope, who has taken part in numerous fashion shows such as the 2007 Mozambique Fashion Week and the 2008 Luanda Fashion Week; ex-Miss Nigeria Joan Okorodudu, a political science graduate of Boston University who manages Nigeria’s Next Super Model competition and owns the House of J’ola label; and Seneo Moji, a young Motswana designer who studied fashion design at Lynn University in the USA then started her own highly successful AMIEL clothing line.
"The awards provide a platform for the young designers to showcase their talents," says South African Fashion Designers Agency Executive President Sonwabile Ndamase, who founded the awards with the encouragement of his most famous client, Nelson Mandela, who wears his iconic shirts.
Ndamase, the talent behind the distinctively South African designs of Vukani! (‘wake up’) Fashions, says the finalists will also attend a three-day business and fashion training seminar, enjoy invaluable networking opportunities and have the chance to win start-up sewing machinery and other prizes.
"It’s not so much about winning or not. The main thing is that we give the designers experience and mentoring in what is a notoriously cut-throat industry."
He says the awards have been a valuable platform for previous winners who have gone on to designing outfits for SABC presenters, set up their own studios, travel abroad and achieve success in related fields such as fashion journalism.
Six of the young finalists are based in Gauteng, four from the Western Cape and one each from the Eastern Cape, KZN, Free State and North West.
"We are delighted to again support the Vukani Awards, as both Old Mutual and Vukani share a vision of contributing to youth development," added Old Mutual Brand Expression Manager Joy Khaole.
"With Vukani, there is a true commitment to ensuring that designers from all walks of life in South Africa access the opportunity to develop and market their skills through a platform that would ordinarily not be available for emerging young fashion entrepreneurs.
"We fully support the founding principles of empowering young local talent; bringing together different cultures; focusing on education and entrepreneurial development; and boosting accessibility to both financial and marketing resources," she says.
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