The local textile and clothing industry reached greater heights after the successful opening of ‘The Fifth’, a retail store located in Glenwood Village featuring garments from six of Durban’s top award-winning female fashion designers.
Three of the six powerhouse women partners of ‘The Fifth’ are beneficiaries of the Durban Fashion Fair (DFF) development programme which started eight years ago when it emerged from the Durban Business Fair and became a standalone event six years ago.
The DFF programme enhances the skills of local fashion designers and broadens industry related knowledge through research.
The six designers include Zama Kwenzi Nkomo of Indoni Fashion House, Mandi Zuma of Inkosazane, Nokwanda Wanda Ngcobo of 8th Wanda, Zama Gumede of Zaviar, Silomo Ntombela of Silomo and Sibu Msimang of fashion house Sibu Msimang.
Municipality’s Fashion Manager, Sindi Shangase congratulated the designers for their dedication on their brands and putting Durban fashion on the spotlight.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Kwenzi Nkomo(@indonifashionhouse) on Mar 11, 2020 at 8:18am PDT
“I have no doubt that this clothing shop will be a success as it features women who are hard workers and committed to what they do as well as being innovators of note. As a caring City, we are proud to witness our efforts yielding great results as designers can now be independent,” said Shangase.
She also added that they will continue offering support to local designers as the entire fashion value chain – from raw materials to the factories that produce textiles as well as the distribution channels that takes manufactured products to the consumer.
The store is located at the Glenwood Village, on the corner of Che Guevara and Hunt Road in Glenwood and trades from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday and on weekend’s opening times are 9am to 2pm on Saturday and 10am to 2pm on Sundays.