THE Ebubeleni Fashion Show returns for its 2nd instalment this Women’s Month, on Saturday, August 12 at Boardwalk ICC in Gqeberha acting as a build-up towards the 12th annual Ebubeleni Festival.
This programme is an initiative of the Ebubeleni Festival Projects, a Non-Profit Company established in 2019 to specifically focus on the development of the Arts, Culture and Fashion industry in Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape.
“We aspire to contribute to the promotion of Nelson Mandela Bay’s creative diversity by increasing activity in the fashion sector of the region; create retail demand by affording emerging designers a chance to be exposed to potential national buyers and media; create a fashion buzz in the region, sparking the interest of outside guests to visit the city and rank it on the World Fashion Capital list,” said Busisiwe Nxele, Project Manager.
“The Eastern Cape has a lot of talented young fashion designers especially those who graduate from university but get frustrated from not getting anywhere to showcase their wares and end up leaving Nelson Mandela Bay to pursue their careers in bigger cities like Joburg and Cape Town, we are proud that some of the designers that participated in our last fashion show gained recognition in big platforms, some are designing garments for Gqeberha the Empire Telenovela’s lead artists”, said Busisiwe.
“At our first fashion show we managed to create over 80 jobs which were happily enjoyed by the sector especially since it happened during trying times of the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2021,” she concluded.
The approach to the designers was a call to submit their recent work including their profiles and a synopsis of what inspires their designs. The 10 selected local designers will be given an opportunity to create a new collection and showcase them on the fashion show runway. These designers will be judged by a panel of industry experts for a cash prize. Prize One will be for the whole range, 2nd Prize will be for the Show-Stopper garment for the theme “Royalty – We are Africa”.
The 10 selected designers to showcase are Quza Designs by Ayanda Quza; Azato Couture by Gladys Azato; Thee King’s Inc by Thandile Ndamase; Birth Mark by Asithandile Zixesha; Mismash Designs by Nomahlubi Mashiya; Kat Lebea Designs by Katleho Lebea; Handmade by Tazleigh Swartz; Thembani Selani; Christopher Tom and Alkebulan by Sihle Champion. There will also be a showcase from 5 NMU Fashion Design Students and two guest designers, House of Chilli by Namhla Fihla and Imprint South Africa by Mzukisi Mbane.
A casting audition for Male and Female models was held on July 15 at the Tramways building. 171 models turned up and 24 multi-cultural young models were selected.
As part of developing local designers, the Fashion Week programme will include a Designers’ Workshops where local designers who did not make it will be workshopped by one of the top local designers, one national designer, a national retail buyer and an NMU Fashion Design lecturer.
The designers and performers will tell a story through their clothes and the music/entertainment which will form part of the theme “Royalty – We are African”. Attendees are also encouraged to adhere to the theme and show us how they interpret “Royalty – We are African”.
On entertainment, we have our own Gqeberha icon and multi-award winner Ami Faku and Afro-Soul Singer Zuko SA who recently won the ‘Best Afro-Pop’ on Metro Fm Awards. Doors open at 5 pm for the Red Carpet and the show starts at 6 pm.
Tickets are R500 at Webtickets, Pick n Pay and Boxer stores nationwide, ticket include a finger meal.
The 2023 Ebubeleni Fashion Week is made possible by the National Department of Sport, Arts & Culture; Sun Boardwalk; Mandela Bay Development Agency; Coega Development Corporation; Bluewater Bay Sunrise Hotel; Tramways Building and Ebubeleni Festival Projects NPC.
For more information please contact info@ebubelenifest.co.za .
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