Durban Fashion Fair

New winners from the 7th instalment of the annual Durban Fashion Fair

Durban Fashion Fair winners Ntando Shandu & Nandile Mkhize

The winners of the New Faces category at the Durban Fashion Fair for 2018 were announced during the recent DFF Recognition Awards evening hosted at the ICC by the eThekwini Municipality who just celebrated their 20th anniversary of the Durban Business Fair.

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Presented as part of its successful Fashion Development Programme, the DFF this year celebrated its seventh year of wowing designers, the media, fashion buyers and the public. It brings out the very best in local fashion with top class shows that allow local creatives to strut their stuff alongside the best in the world.

To discover hidden talents that can put Durban on the fashion map as well as ensure that, when it comes to design, Durban is a top contender, the eThekwini Municipality has invested substantial sums in internships, industry related training programmes, networking sessions and various lifestyle and modelling programmes and boot camps.

These models, who were scouted throughout the greater eThekwini Municipality, have been provided with invaluable training over the past two months prior to the DFF – from runway skills, posing and posture presentation and photographic editorial techniques to “model etiquette”. These are proving the tools that will enable them to reach for their dreams and take full advantage of the opportunity to participate in a high profile fashion show such as the DFF.

Ntando Shandu with Sindi Shangase & Nandile Mkhize

The Mayor of the eThekwini municipality, Cllr Zandile Gumede, said it was inspiring that, to date, the DFF had attracted a range of local, Pan-African and international experts in the fashion sector.

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The revitalisation of Durban’s fashion industry

Senzo Ntuli Durban fashion

The revitalisation of Durban’s fashion industry could be the ultimate rags to riches story and the annual Durban Fashion Fair (DFF), which is hosted by the eThekwini Municipality, could play a significant role in providing jobs for the city’s talented youth.

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This year’s event, which takes place between September 19 and 22 at the Durban ICC, will showcase the work of 40 South African designers and nine designers from the rest of the continent.

While there are some big names and established designers such as Amanda Laird Cherry, Karen Monk Klingstra and Chu Suwannapha included, the largest portion of participating designers are under 35.

According to Stats SA, the national youth unemployment rate (15 to 34 year-olds) is approximately 40 percent. A large proportion are graduates. Durban has a number of tertiary institutions, many of which teach fashion design.

In light of this, Honourable Mayor of the eThekwini Municipality, Cllr Zandile Gumede, says she is particularly proud of the mentorship programme which culminates in the DFF.

Each year, a group of young talents are handpicked and mentored in order to make their debut into this extremely tough sector a little easier. Overall, approximately 200 young designers have completed the DFF mentorship programme. This year, 20 mentees participated.

The theme for this year’s event Afrofuturism. “We hear about the unfolding fourth industrial revolution and the impact of technology and disruption on companies. But, sometimes, it is also good to start with the basics and inculcate a belief in the future of the African fashion industry in our youth. We may not have many large clothing manufacturers to snap up our new talents but we do have a spirit of entrepreneurship that is alive and well and could create thriving new businesses going forward,” says Gumede.

Durban Fashion Fair (DFF)

An example is Mxolisi Mkhize (House of St Luke) who made an entrance at the DFF 2012. “My Business has grown from strength to strength. I have grown as a business man and I see tremendous growth in revenue,” he says.

In just six years, Mkhize has created jobs for an illustrator, pattern maker, a personal assistant and three cutters and machinists.

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