Designer off to Vancouver Fashion Week
A PORT ELIZABETH designer at Thabo Makhetha CC will jet off to Canada at the weekend to take part in Vancouver Fashion Week.
Thabo Makhetha-Kwinana, 26, a Nelson Mandela Bay Chamber of Business Top 40 under 40 business leader and entrepreneur and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University fashion design graduate, heads the Newton Park company bearing her name.
Her range will hit the Canadian ramps next Tuesday, at the week- long show, which will be held from September 15 till 21.
Vancouver Fashion Week is an internationally recognised platform for both established and new designers. The shows allow designers to showcase their collections at world-class venues before an influential audience of industry professionals and fashion-conscious consumers.
"This opportunity is truly a blessing! I am extremely excited and nervous at the same time!" Makhetha-Kwinana said from her shop last week. The opportunity was even more special as it came after many tries with no success to break into South African Fashion Week. "I feel there is hope and space for the Basotho blankets internationally! I hope people will do more than just watch the show, and want to invest and place big orders."
Her label's signature items are the unique blanket-inspired range of coats which garnered international attention and admiration when Elle South Africa editor Jackie Burger wore a Thabo Makhetha black and white cape to the Louis Vuitton Show at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year. Since then the coats have been featured and mentioned in the Wall Street journal, New York Post, Elle SA, Marie Claire SA and many other local and international publications.
"It feels good to know that the organisers found me! I got the invitation via e-mail and I suspect that it was a result of a recent feature in The Wall Street Journal. I also think there have been a few bloggers and South Africans who have helped by pushing for our designs internationally."
Financial assistance from the Department of Trade and Industry has also helped Makhetha- Kwinana and the team to get ready for Vancouver. In three weeks they were able to put a spring/summer collection together.
"It is a lot more breezy, with shorter and lighter designs than the usual. - Balisa Ntloko
