Two Cape Town women are among the finalists for a top design award that could have them breaking in to the competitive fashion industry.
Eight finalists, including Jane Kotze and Sheena Unwin, are preparing for the final judging and showing of their collections at a red-carpet event in Joburg in September for the Elle Rising Star Design Award.
The winner gets a cash prize of R25 000 and mentorship from Mr Price, the Gordon School of Business Science, the Elle magazine fashion team and PR expert Savannah Erasmus.
The winner will redesign items from their winning range for sale in Mr Price stores.
Kotze, 31, from Stellenbosch, is a graduate of the Elizabeth Galloway Academy of Fashion Design.
She has a diploma in interior design and previously studied drama and consumer science.
“I always wanted to do fashion. It was my little love. I found interior design boring. So I learnt to sew. I was taught it in primary school, but I did not apply myself,” she says.
Kotze worked for a retailer arranging window displays and hoped to later move into buying and design, but this did not happen.
“You are too creative, not commercial enough,” she was told.
Unhappy, she resigned, after which she saw an advert online for the competition.
“That’s serendipitous. I entered on my last day at work.”
And then she got the call from Elle editor Jackie Burger. Now, she’s steaming ahead on her range.
“There is a lot of chiffons, glitter and shimmer. I love storytelling, I thought I wanted to be a costume designer.
“I thought of the The Little Mermaid. It will also be inspired by the silent movie era, a starlet look.”
“I am pushing hard, working on it every day. I have done nothing of this magnitude before.
“This is an amazing opportunity to be seen and have input from industry.”
Unwin, 24, of Wynberg, is a Durban University of Technology graduate who has worked for YDE supplier Maze Clothing.
“I entered not thinking I’d get through to being a finalist. My stuff is very off the runway, not avant-garde but more street fashion.”
After a sombre-coloured final-year range, she was determined that her next one would be an explosion of colour.
“I want a South African signature to come through in my work. There will be lots of colour and African prints. There will be mismatching… I am inspired by architecture. That is beautiful, I see it in chairs and buildings.”
With her focus on a local look, she says she gets heartbroken by seeing local designs as being samples of Europe.
“Regardless of what happens, I am going to start a label. I will go to the bank again for a loan. Business can be terrifying, though.
“The best route would be to have a concrete range and take it to markets. This prize money would help me so much, it would boost my confidence, too.” - Weekend Argus