BY PHUMLANI SAUL
The annual Ebubeleni Fashion Show makes its return for its 2nd instalment this Women’s Month.
The Ebubeleni Fashion Show will be held on Saturday, 12 August 2023 at Boardwalk ICC in Gqeberha.
The Ebubeleni Festival never fails to impress its loyal fans in Gqeberha, and this year is no exception. The highly anticipated second annual fashion show is returning to the Friendly City. Serving as a thrilling build-up to the main festival at the end of the year, the fashion show promises to deliver top-notch entertainment.
“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” Project Manager Busisiwe Nxele said.
“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 the 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”, “At our first fashion show we managed to create over 80 jobs which were happily enjoyed by the sector especially that ithappened during trying times of Covid-19 Pandemic in 2021” Nxele 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 at 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; ThembaniSelani; 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 the 15th July last Saturday at 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 retailbuyer and NMU Fashion Design lecturer.
The designers and performers will tell a story through their clothes and the music/entertainment which will form part of a theme “Royalty – We are African”. Attendees are also encouraged to adhere to the theme and show us how they interpret “Royalty – We are African”
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 5pm for the Red Carpet and show starts at 6pm.
Tickets are R500 at Webtickets, Pick n Pay and Boxer stores nationwide, ticket include a finger meal.
Daily Kasi News 