Bay designer going places

Ex-NMMU student’s menswear collection wins him internship

NELSON Mandela Metropolitan University fashion graduate Armand Dicker has been selected as one of four young designers to showcase his collection at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Africa later this year – the second time he will work the national style ramp.

The 24-year-old designer showcased his collection, Armand Dicker Autumn-Winter 2015 Inferno, at Fashion Week Joburg this past weekend to an enthusiastic audience at Melrose Arch.

Thanks to his winning menswear collection, Dicker and the other finalists, Thebe Magugu, Martelle Ludik and Nthabiseng Molefe will go on three-month paid internships chosen for them by African Fashion International.

“The collection was inspired by the poem, Dante’s Inferno and ‘travelling through nine circles of hell’. The collection was well received and I already have bookings from stylists who want to feature the garments in photoshoots,” said Dicker.

“Just like Dante’s journey, my collection is also based around the circles of hell, or darkness, and each garment represents a sin.”

Dicker was one of 12 contestants chosen for the 2015 African Fashion International Fastrack programme. He used mostly natural materials, including Eastern Cape mohair and leather, along with synthetics.

“The entire collection has circled silhouettes and in the turtleneck tops I incorporated something I haven’t seen in a while back into men’s fashion.”

Mohair South Africa (MSA) sponsored the collection, and Dicker also wore his own suit in cloth made from mohair, which he printed over, as a “conceptual version of the yin and yang duality theory”.

MSA spokesman Lindsay Humphreys said MSA sponsored third-year design students at several universities.

“Armand came up with the winning presentation,” she said.

“Mohair is very popular around the world for suiting but Armand didn’t just use it for one garment, he made various uses of it throughout his collection.”

Dicker wins the chance to present a spring-summer collection in October, vying for the Young Designer Award by AFI.

“It’s going to be tight but I’ll make it work, try and push the boundary and this time, really make it readyto-wear menswear,” Dicker said.

-Nomazima Nkosi