Youth in Alex gets educated about fashion

ENSAfrica Pro Bono organisation arranges an Impact of fashion event for the youth and emerging designers at Alex Heritage Museum to inspire and raise awareness about the fashion industry, and possible career opportunities.

July 6, 2023

Alulutho Siboma 2 minutes read

Ben Mhlongo, Alex veteran, stands next to his photo from 1976 and gives a tour to the guests at the Alex Heritage Museum and educates about the history of Alexandra. Photo: Alulutho Siboma

As part of ENSafrica’s CSI programmes, through their Alex pro bono office towards the promotion of youth empowerment initiatives, ENSafrica Pro Bono arranged an Impact of Fashion event for the youth and emerging designers at Alex Heritage Museum.

The objective of this campaign was to inspire young and aspiring designers, raise awareness about the fashion industry, and possible career opportunities.

Modupe Oloruntoba, writer and fashion designer, speaks about fashion education and the impact of fashion on young people. Photo: Alulutho Siboma

Thabiso Sefara, organiser and ENSafrica pro bono coordinator said, “Today we remembered the fierce youth of 1976 and the struggles they fought against at that time. The Impact of Fashion event resonates with educating the youth on their artistic skills as other ways of actively participating in the economic sector and earning a living at it.

“It is for these reasons that we found it befitting to host such an event within the Alexandra community with a collaborative effort of community-based fashion designers and aspirant learners in the industry.”

Carlyn Frittelli Davies educates the youth about the impact of fast fashion in the fashion industry. Photo: Alulutho Siboma

Modupe Oloruntoba, writer and fashion designer mentioned to the young people how fashion and clothes can be used for body image positivity and a form of expression.

“I think one of the first things we have to tell the world about ourselves is our voices and having control of what we are wearing and how we present ourselves to the world. I think clothes are a part of self-expression that people use to say, ‘I’m a professional’ or ‘I am someone to be taken seriously’.

Jade Courtney educates the youth to protect their intellectual property and to always trademark their original work. Photo: Alulutho Siboma

“So, clothes should give you access to a lot of freedom and not as a thing you feel like you have to keep up.”

Oloruntoba added that fashion education should be taught to designers a lot more and what the supply chains entail in terms of making fabrics and turning the fabrics into clothes. She believes that business education needs to be improved in the fashion industry.

Fashion designer and Softanyce founder Pogisho Mapheto, models Kgomotso Ngwenya, Thobile Mthombeni and Kagiso Moloto show off the clothes he designed. Photo: Alulutho Siboma

” During my fashion designer diploma, I didn’t receive a very strong business education – that is why I think business education is important because it will show people how to make their business sustainable. So, in my opinion, business education needs to be much improved in the fashion industry.”

Oloruntoba said some of the challenges in fashion are sustainability and overproduction, that they are producing more clothes than people can buy, then all of those clothes become waste when they don’t bring them back to the supply chain and find ways to sell them.

Stakeholders and some of the local fashion designers at the Impact of Fashion initiative. Photo: Alulutho Siboma

One of the youths in attendance, Thobile Mthombeni, said, “Today I learnt a lot about protecting your intellectual property – if you are an artist you should trademark your original work to prevent it from being stolen or people copying it.”