A bigger, bolder and better third edition of the annual Mandela Bay Fashion Week came to an inclusive and diverse close at the Tramways Building in Port Elizabeth on Saturday night.
The three-night show, which saw an array of designers from across the country put on a versatile and diverse fashion showcase, attracted about R63,000 in ticket sales – more than three times more than 2017’s sales of around R20,000.
Event founder Llewellyn Williams said the show had gone more smoothly than in the past two years.
“It was a very well- produced show,” he said.
“I’m quite happy about the flow and we have definitely gotten bigger this year, so I have no real complaints.”
This year’s on-ramp fashion was more inclusive as it celebrated various body shapes and sizes as well as a rise in featured men’s fashion.
A Port Elizabeth group of plus-size models, Iz’dudla ZaseBhayi, had the crowd in hysterical cheers as they tapped into the growing trend of embracing bigger sizes on the runway.
The models showcased plus-size looks by Bay designer Kolly Seti.
After an outstanding showcase by Nelson Mandela University second-year fashion and textile design students and graduates on the second night, renowned Madiba shirt designer, Vukani Fashion’s Sonwabile Ndamase, picked designers Samantha Cunningham, Hannah Maybery and Habi Doucouré, who earned a spot at the Vukani Fashion Awards.
Williams said the students’ showcase was his highlight from the 2018 Mandela Bay Fashion Week.
Saturday night’s show boasted ranges by emerging designers from the recent East London Fashion Week and, in a bid to exhibit a taste of national fashion fever, Mandela Bay Fashion Week invited designers from Limpopo, Free State and Gauteng to showcase their work on the fashion ramp in Port Elizabeth.
Williams said they had invited only one Capetonian designer to showcase amid an Eastern Cape group.
In honour of the Nelson Mandela centenary, Ndamase closed off the show with his Mandela Centenary range in aid of the Nelson Mandela Foundation on the final night.
The Amarula Challenge, in which Bay emerging designers showcased designs inspired by the Amarula brand, as well as the three student designers picked for the Vukani Awards ensured that the showcase had more than one winner, marketing co-ordinator Sanelisiwe Mdashe said.
Bay designer Thembani Selani walked away with R20,000 cash as the winner of the Amarula Challenge.
“I am excited about winning the challenge, especially considering the designers I was competing with,” Selani said.
“I really went into the competition with the primary intention [of learning] about screen printing because it was something I needed. And it was that process that inspired me to create a fresh, unisex range.”
Selani, who works from home with domestic machines, plans to invest the money into getting a studio and buying a new machine.