DESPITE the winter chill, the heat was turned up on the fashion scene as a huge group of hopeful students converged on Greyville Racecourse hoping to make the semi-final round of the prestigious Vodacom Durban July Young Designer Award, presented by Durban Fashion Fair.
Over a 120 students representing six fashion design colleges from across the province nervously packed into the Steward’s Room, waiting for their chance to appear before the judges and explain their interpretation of the theme “It Is Time”.
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The panel of judges included well known Durban designers Terrence Bray and Sandile ‘Duke’ Mngadi, lecturer Greg Wallace, and Sindi Shangase from the Durban Fashion Fair, co-ordinated by Vodacom Durban July Fashion Programme director Tiffany Prior.
“It was a long and agonising session, but it was quite interesting, especially the interpretations of the theme. Some designers were so close to the theme and some were so far off you could see that they didn’t understand the theme itself. Some of the designers that were spot on theme were let down by poor execution, while others who missed the theme came forward with some really great execution in their garments. That made the judging tough,” said Shangase, after the marathon judging session.
She said that the depth and quality of the entry had made judging difficult, but left her inspired. “It gives us hope in terms of the future that there are more designers coming up and willing to join the industry.”
The 30 semi-finalists will come before another panel of judges at the popular fashion show at Greyville Racecourse on Tuesday, 19 June, where the entry will be reduced to 10 finalists. Entry to the show is free.
Visit: www.vodacomdurbanjuly.co.za.
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